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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
uncertainty
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
considerable
▪ David Lewis, chairman, said the year started with a considerable amount of uncertainty and despair in the travel industry.
▪ This cycle causes considerable market uncertainty affecting the occupiers, developers, investors and planners involved in new building.
▪ There is still considerable uncertainty, for example, about the privatization process.
▪ In addition, considerable uncertainty must remain until we know government's firm views on our future.
▪ The existence of sub-sects such as the Zadokites and the Nazareans has generated considerable confusion and uncertainty among biblical scholars.
▪ As there is considerable clinical uncertainty and variation in practice in this condition such debate is to be welcomed.
▪ Such experience would prove highly disturbing and create considerable uncertainty for business, especially importers and exporters, in that country.
▪ During 1988 there was considerable uncertainty as to whether a slowing down of spending was taking place.
economic
▪ The increasing internationalization of Chlor-Chemicals, both in marketing and production also helps provide a buffer against economic uncertainties.
▪ A decrease in economic uncertainty allows the C11L curve to become flatter.
▪ Five other states have passed similar moratoria, citing the economic uncertainty of nuclear power's future.
▪ There are too many people who face economic uncertainty.
▪ The preceding months of wrangling were the cause of a great deal of economic uncertainty.
▪ Contingent workers receive lower wages, less fringes, fewer paid holidays, and must accept greater economic risks and uncertainty.
▪ They are also a good hedge against all the political and economic uncertainties raging in Britain this Guy Fawkes week.
▪ Some investors buy gold as a safe haven in times of political and economic uncertainty.
great
▪ Events moved quickly, though as Cullingworth's history reveals, not without great uncertainty and confusion in Whitehall.
▪ Futures and options markets began when tankers tried to hedge against the great uncertainty of weather and agricultural markets.
▪ Nevertheless, because of the greater uncertainties in the foreign exchange markets, more attention needs to be paid to currency risk.
▪ The greatest uncertainty concerns Nelson Mandela's health.
▪ It is one example of the great uncertainty that now shadows Hong Kong.
▪ The announcement heralds a period of great uncertainty as the implications of these changes are fully worked through.
▪ But it is in politics and in the broader field of civilization that the greatest uncertainties arise.
inherent
▪ But perhaps it reveals more of the inherent uncertainty of experimental research than the tidiness which precedes it.
▪ Both EDs would require auditors to refer in their reports to inherent uncertainties affecting the accounts.
▪ However, the proposals for added emphasis paragraphs in respect of disclosures about inherent uncertainties have a number of drawbacks.
political
▪ But the survey has failed to detect any improvement in confidence and the institute is blaming political uncertainties.
▪ Copenhagen: Shares eased as political uncertainty and an ailing bond market reduced trade.
▪ With so much at stake, political uncertainty is the last thing that investors want.
▪ Higher taxes and political uncertainty would deter investment and destroy jobs.
▪ During the next few months London could be rocked by political uncertainty.
▪ They are also a good hedge against all the political and economic uncertainties raging in Britain this Guy Fawkes week.
■ NOUN
principle
▪ After this encounter Einstein gave up his specific attempts to undermine the uncertainty principle.
▪ It has been noted that the quantum limit has its origin in the following expression of the uncertainty principle.
▪ Real togetherness Einstein licked his wounds after his long drawn out battle with Bohr about the uncertainty principle.
▪ The Heisenberg uncertainty principle tells us that.
▪ Einstein's general relativity is what is called a classical theory; that is, it does not incorporate the uncertainty principle.
▪ One therefore has to find a new theory that combines general relativity with the uncertainty principle.
▪ The human brain, however, is also subject to the uncertainty principle.
▪ The effects of the uncertainty principle will then become very important and seem to point to some remarkable results.
■ VERB
add
▪ These sorts of kick-start measures add uncertainty to the economy.
▪ The crisis in Chechnya added to the uncertainty.
▪ Either will do, but the present confusion has only added to uncertainty in the financial markets.
▪ The need to sift and correct the information put out by companies adds cost and uncertainty to the market's pricing function.
▪ Love added uncertainty, love lavished all her extravagant colours and textures.
cause
▪ These fluctuations in interest rates will cause further uncertainty and further shifts in the speculative demand for money.
▪ I and my colleagues understand the anxiety caused by uncertainties like this and will clarify the position as early as possible.
▪ This cycle causes considerable market uncertainty affecting the occupiers, developers, investors and planners involved in new building.
▪ There have been many recent changes in government intervention programmes causing damaging uncertainty.
▪ Children are also sensitive to stress caused by anxiety, uncertainty and economic hardship.
▪ Again, the introduction of new fields causes uncertainty.
▪ His referendum had caused great uncertainty.
▪ Donald's offer on behalf of the company to buy a round of drinks had been ambiguous and caused uncertainty among us.
create
▪ The possibilities for current and prospective changes in such policies are creating uncertainties over the future of the rural environment.
▪ The Raiders created some of the uncertainty, given their quarterback-swapping conversations with Atlanta.
▪ This lack of guidance may create other uncertainties.
▪ However, the Panel will not allow an offeror to rely on a pre-condition indefinitely as this creates uncertainty in the market.
▪ But isolation from colleagues also creates uncertainty.
▪ Such experience would prove highly disturbing and create considerable uncertainty for business, especially importers and exporters, in that country.
▪ Ambush marketing creates a further uncertainty over any estimates of the value of sports sponsorship.
deal
▪ Management is about dealing with uncertainty, you can never obtain perfect information.
▪ They must deal creatively with uncertainty instead of futilely trying to eliminate it.
▪ How do people deal with uncertainty?
▪ The company dealt with uncertainty through a flexible organizational style, aided by a rapidly evolving information network.
end
▪ It is supposed to end the uncertainty surrounding the limits of control of young people in residential care.
▪ Hong Kong politicians called on Mr Major to end months of uncertainty by immediately appointing a new Governor.
▪ But now the Forestry Commission has decided to end the uncertainty by announcing plans to turn it into a wood.
▪ A decade later, the local community's delighted that the Forestry Commission's decided to end the uncertainty.
▪ The benefits of lower interest rates, ending exchange rate uncertainty and reducing business transaction costs are too powerful to ignore.
face
▪ I recognise that companies are under considerable pressures and that we face a period of uncertainty.
▪ There are too many people who face economic uncertainty.
▪ Many are still facing the uncertainty of life in refugee camps a year after leaving their homes.
▪ Residents face their own uncertainties, worried about their homes and property.
▪ When she left her job she faced a period of uncertainty while she tried to prove that her idea had potential.
▪ Last year they faced uncertainty over their jobs when the Lewis's group went bust and called in the receivers.
increase
▪ The impending retirement of Mr Arias, Nobel prize winner and the main motivator, has increased uncertainty.
▪ Associating democracy with fear certainly multiplies the ambiguities and increases the uncertainties.
▪ They had experienced the break-up of the Bretton Woods system and increasing international financial uncertainty.
reduce
▪ Perception is biased towards recognition and each successful achievement reduces uncertainty.
▪ Providing information that reduces uncertainty is a second way a department can increase its power base.
▪ A large quantity of information is needed in order to reduce this uncertainty to an acceptable level.
▪ If there is a downturn in the economy, sudden pressure can be placed on sales to reduce this uncertainty.
▪ They reduce uncertainty and hence anxiety about the future.
▪ I can only reduce the painful uncertainty and bewilderment of those first few days by learning relevant information quickly.
▪ Cognitive social psychologists assume that it is pan of human nature to reduce uncertainty by processing the external stimulus world through schemata.
▪ Such an argument runs rather against the more usual one that science, in the long run, reduces uncertainty.
reflect
▪ Like most modern literature, the new narrative reflects the ontological uncertainty of contemporary man.
▪ Gore's language reflected that uncertainty.
▪ This range of almost 44 % is abnormally wide, reflecting even greater uncertainty than usual about what is driving currencies.
▪ Their campaign reflected the uncertainties and weakness that led the Financial Times to back Labour.
▪ The price range reflects the uncertainty involved in the novel technology that will be needed to build large syn-gas plants.
remove
▪ This would remove the uncertainty and leave firms free to operate unconstrained within the legally created framework.
resolve
▪ The survey will inevitably resolve such jurisdictional uncertainties.
▪ But Gallagher does not decide this and only a House of Lords judgment on the point can resolve the uncertainty.
▪ In his speech yesterday to the Conservative Party conference, Mr Lawson did nothing to resolve the uncertainty.
▪ We are carrying out a study now and we shall seek to resolve that uncertainty as soon as we can.
▪ Further trials need to be done to resolve that uncertainty.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a flicker of emotion/uncertainty/excitement etc
▪ I really have never felt even a flicker of emotion when I sang the National Anthem.
▪ Ruins, she thought, with a flicker of excitement.
▪ Shiona told herself with just a flicker of uncertainty, changing into second gear as she rounded a bend.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Life is full of uncertainties and problems.
▪ There is a great deal of uncertainty about the future of the company.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But the inmates could know nothing of the future, only the uncertainty of their terrible present.
▪ Did his supportive family have to withstand the same uncertainty?
▪ Fourth, the elimination of exchange rate uncertainty is likely to yield benefits in terms of higher growth rates of intra-union trade and investment.
▪ Future trends in marital status Future trends in marital status are subject to some uncertainty.
▪ In such a climate of unbalance, of moral uncertainty there is bound to come a period of esthetic drought.
▪ Main reasons seem to be persistent low profitability among farmers and their uncertainty about the future.
▪ People live from day to day in a world full of uncertainties.
▪ With that she departed, leaving the young man full of ardor and decision, all his former uncertainty and hesitation gone.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Uncertainty

Uncertainty \Un*cer"tain*ty\, n.; pl. Uncertainties.

  1. The quality or state of being uncertain.

  2. That which is uncertain; something unknown.

    Our shepherd's case is every man's case that quits a moral certainty for an uncertainty.
    --L'Estrange.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
uncertainty

late 14c., from uncertain + -ty.

Wiktionary
uncertainty

n. (context uncountable English) doubt; the condition of being uncertain or without conviction.

WordNet
uncertainty
  1. n. being unsettled or in doubt; "the uncertainty of the outcome" [syn: uncertainness] [ant: certainty]

  2. the state of being unsure of something [syn: doubt, incertitude, dubiety, doubtfulness, dubiousness] [ant: certainty]

Wikipedia
Uncertainty

Uncertainty is a situation which involves imperfect and/or unknown information. It arises in subtly different ways in a number of fields, including insurance, philosophy, physics, statistics, economics, finance, psychology, sociology, engineering, metrology, and information science. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown. Uncertainty arises in partially observable and/or stochastic environments, as well as due to ignorance and/or indolence.

Uncertainty (film)

Uncertainty is a 2008 indie crime drama thriller film written, produced, and directed by American independent filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel and starring Lynn Collins and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was first released at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

Distribution rights were acquired by IFC Films and it received limited release on November 13, 2009. It was simultaneously made available to cable viewers via video on demand.

The film was shot in HD on the Arriflex D-20.

Usage examples of "uncertainty".

Howt due to chaotic uncertainty in phase locking, amplitude decay o theoretically begin within the day.

Edgar, her uncertainty of his intentions, her suspicions of his wished secession, the severe task she thought necessary to perform of giving him his liberty, with the anguish of a total inability to judge whether such a step would recall his tenderness, or precipitate his retreat, were suggestions which quickly succeeded, and, in a very short time, wholly domineered over every other.

Impartial looker-on sees clearer than the player Learn to obey, that later you may know how to command Man has nothing harder to endure than uncertainty Many creditors are so many allies One should give nothing up for lost excepting the dead Our thinkers are no heroes, and our heroes are no sages Overbusy friends are more damaging than intelligent enemies Prepare sorrow when we come into the world The experienced love to signify their superiority We quarrel with no one more readily than with the benefactor UARDA Volume 4.

Heisenberg discovered the uncertainty principle, physics turned a sharp corner, never to retrace its steps.

There is no doubt that it is a most effective agent in warfare, on account of the prolonged uncertainty which it creates.

Much of the prospecting was fruitless, but some of it brought forth riches, not in gold or silver, but in liquor and cigars, which at that stage of uncertainty meant more to a GI than a bankful of dollar bills.

They had danced it in utter silence--a tense, packed silence, vibrant with significances half-hidden, half-understood, and she found herself quivering with a strange uncertainty and nervousness as she and Quarrington together made their way into the dim-lit quiet of the winter-garden opening off the ballroom.

Both dreaded the severe reproof they had reason to expect from their uncle, but he was very forbearing, and thinking the fright and suffering entailed by their folly sufficient to deter them from a repetition of it, kindly refrained from lecturing them on the subject, though, when a suitable opportunity offered, he did talk seriously and tenderly, with now one and now the other, on the guilt and danger of putting off repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, reminding them that they had had a very solemn warning of the shortness and uncertainty of life, and asking them to consider the question whether they were ready for a sudden call into the immediate presence of their Judge.

Even the treaties continually going on at the bazaar for the buying and selling of the merest trifles are carried on by speechifying rather than by mere colloquies, and the eternal uncertainty as to the market value of things in constant sale gives room enough for discussion.

Weary of this uncertainty, and the tergiversation of Austria, which was still under the influence of England, and feeling that the prolongation of such a state of things could only turn to his disadvantage, Bonaparte broke the armistice.

To admit that there is an outside power, something uncorrelated, is to invite fear, apprehension, uncertainty and terror.

Things made by mankind under modern conditions are ugly, primarily because our social organisation is ugly, because we live in an atmosphere of snatch and uncertainty, and do everything in an underbred strenuous manner.

The siege of Byzantium, which was immediately undertaken by Constantine, was attended with great labor and uncertainty.

Furthermore, admitting it to be an open question, neither proved nor disproved, but poised in equal uncertainty, still, it is not immoral nor undevout deeply to desire and fondly to hope a personal immortality.

I was aware that the creature might be a waking delusion, that it could have been the blow to the head that killed my friend - but it was the uncertainty that nearly unhinged me, the total loss of trust in my own senses.