Crossword clues for indefensible
indefensible
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Indefensible \In`de*fen"si*ble\, [Pref. in- not + defensible: cf. OF. indefensible, indefensable.] Not defensible; not capable of being defended, maintained, vindicated, or justified; unjustifiable; untenable; as, an indefensible fortress, position, cause, statement, etc.
Men find that something can be said in favor of what,
on the very proposal, they thought utterly
indefensible.
--Burke.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1520s, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + defensible. Related: Indefensibly.
Wiktionary
a. 1 Not defensible; not capable of being defended; vulnerable. 2 Incapable of being justified or excused; inexcusable; unpardonable. 3 Incapable of being explained; untenable; insupportable; invalid.
WordNet
adj. (of theories etc) incapable of being defended or justified [syn: untenable]
incapable of being justified or explained [syn: insupportable, unjustifiable, unwarrantable, unwarranted]
Usage examples of "indefensible".
Kaiku had always been stubborn and wilful, but to be an Aberrant was surely indefensible?
An ironist must pretend, and the classic ironist was Socrates, who in his discussions with others would relentlessly pretend ignorance and ask all kinds of naive questions designed to trap an overconfident adversary into rashly taking positions that then proved to be indefensible under further naive questioning by Socrates.
It is by adding to the observed phenomena an indefensible hypothesis that the error of traduction is obtained.
But on the unconsulted victim it came a cruel blow, unexpected and indefensible.
With almost bewildering speed and precision, he divided his forces to lure the Alemanni into indefensible valley positions, where they were surrounded.
The book was malignant from start to finish, they said, with grievous libels that were totally indefensible.
I fell to wondering what charm Victory had found in such a man as Snider, and why I insisted upon finding excuses for her and trying to defend her indefensible act.
The principle on which he acts is as indefensible as the personal or egoistical democracy of the slaveholders and their sympathizers.
But despite his victory, Aurelian had apparently decided that Dacia north of the river was indefensible, and was pulling the limits of the Empire back to the Danuvius.
Although it was his gut feeling, doubtless illogical and indefensible, that the sheer cussedness of his own species, despite its record of atrocity, would ultimately allow it to muddle through.
He felt a terrible dread that somehow none of these defenses should prove enough, and the strangelings come through the hills like floodwater remorselessly seeking out all the small and indefensible crannies and cracks until it spills through and drowns all before it.