MEANING
Not accessible to direct observation, although its presence or effects may be inferred.
Use it for
discussing a latent process inferred from observable indicators; distinguishing inability to observe from failure to collect data; qualifying claims about a state that cannot be directly inspectedNames limits on direct observation without implying that indirect evidence is impossible. Academic functions: Qualification / Uncertainty, Theory / Conceptual Language, Inference.
Words that belong together
- an unobservable variable
- unobservable characteristics
- an unobservable mechanism
On the page
The model treats preferences as unobservable and estimates them from choices.
An unobservable mechanism may still generate observable predictions that competing accounts do not share.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- unobservable
Usage notes
Attributive or predicative. Normally non-gradable; no usual comparative or superlative. Distinguish unobservable from unobserved or merely unmeasured. Register: formal. Commonness: uncommon (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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