epistemic.

Relating to knowledge, belief, or the grounds on which claims are justified.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• epistemic uncertainty
• epistemic authority
• epistemic justification

On the page

The missing records create epistemic uncertainty about the timing of the decision.

The witness had access to information but no special epistemic authority outside that area.

An epistemic objection challenges the evidence, not necessarily the desirability of the proposal.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic. Academic, especially philosophy. Epistemic uncertainty concerns what is known, while some uncertainty concerns inherent variation. Explain the distinction rather than using the term as decoration. Normally non-gradable in this sense; comparison requires a specific contextual scale. Derived family (not inflections): epistemology, epistemically.