Unresolvables

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Items or issues that cannot be conclusively settled or clarified; circumstances or problems lacking a definite solution or answer; subjects resistant to resolution or explanation
2. Matters or situations that defy definitive conclusion or understanding; elements that remain ambiguous or undecided despite efforts; factors that do not yield clear or final outcomes
3. Conditions or cases that fail to achieve a clear or agreed-upon resolution; complexities that persist without being resolved; topics that remain unsettled or open-ended despite attempts to clarify

Etymology: "Unresolvables" is simply the plural of "unresolvable," so it describes the things that cannot be resolved. The adjective is built from "un-," the ancient Germanic prefix meaning "not," which English has used since Old English, attached to "resolvable." That second part traces back through the verb "resolve," which came into English from Latin "resolvere," meaning "to loosen" or "to unfasten," and the sense of settling a question or dispute grew out of this more literal idea of untying something. The suffix "-able" arrived by a longer route. It descends from Latin "-bilis" and "-abilis," passed through Old French as "-able," and entered English in the Middle English period, where it became a productive way to form adjectives meaning "capable of being" something. Combining it with "resolve" gave "resolvable" (capable of being settled or solved), and adding "un-" reversed that sense into the noun-like plural used for stubborn problems.

Synonyms: insolubles, unsolvable problems, unanswerables, intractables, mysteries

Antonyms: solvables, answerables, resolvables, solutions, clarities