untenability · noun — the condition of being untenable. It carries an Arena rating of 946, earned across 103 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, untenability ranks #4,723 of 17,176 for Most Incisive Words, #4,946 of 17,163 for Most Sublime Words, #5,300 of 17,129 for Most Ponderous Words, #7,949 of 17,171 for Scariest Words.
Why “untenability” is a great word
UNTENABILITY — [Noun] The quality or state of being incapable of being defended, maintained, or justified. Formed within English by derivation from the adjective 'untenable' (from un- ("not") + tenable (from Old French tenir, "to hold")) + the noun-forming suffix -ity. Unlike "implausibility," which suggests mere unlikelihood, or "fragility," which describes physical delicacy, untenability denotes the fatal, structural flaw in an argument's very foundation. It is the debater's smile faltering as their own data contradicts them; it is the official doctrine collapsing under the weight of its internal contradictions; it is the promise so broken its maker can no longer pretend to believe it—the quiet, irrevocable click of a lock that can never again be opened.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From un- + tenability.
noun
- The condition of being untenable.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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