indeterminacy.

The absence of a definitely settled, uniquely determined or precisely bounded result, value or interpretation.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• narrative indeterminacy
• indeterminacy of an outcome

On the page

The narrative’s indeterminacy concerned motive rather than the sequence of events.

The model left indeterminacy where the available conditions did not select one unique outcome.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, interpretation, contrast, characterization. Disciplines: prose writing, literary analysis, advanced general English. Commonness: uncommon.