Meaning & use
uncontrollability
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
The state of being impossible to control, restrain or direct.
Grammar: No plural and no a: the uncontrollability of the fire.
Patterns
- the uncontrollability of something
Firefighters were shocked by the uncontrollability of the blaze once the wind picked up.
The uncontrollability of the crowd made the police change their plan.
Therapists discuss the uncontrollability of panic with new patients.
noununcountabletechnical
In psychology, the belief that events or outcomes cannot be influenced by one's own actions.
Grammar: Used in research writing about stress, anxiety or helplessness.
Patterns
- the uncontrollability of something
Studies link the uncontrollability of stress to feelings of helplessness.
The experiment varied the uncontrollability of the noise.
A sense of uncontrollability can make a patient give up trying.
Common combinations
- the uncontrollability of events
- He struggled with the uncontrollability of events at work.
- perceived uncontrollability
- Perceived uncontrollability is a strong source of anxiety.
- emotional uncontrollability
- Emotional uncontrollability after the loss worried her family.
- the uncontrollability of a fire
- The uncontrollability of a wildfire depends heavily on wind.
- a sense of uncontrollability
- A sense of uncontrollability can lead to avoidance.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unmanageability
- Unmanageability is about being too difficult to handle or organize, whereas uncontrollability suggests it cannot be restrained at all.
- wildness
- Wildness is less formal and describes a lack of restraint in behavior or nature.
- unruliness
- Unruliness describes disobedient or disorderly behavior, mostly in people.
- helplessness
- Helplessness describes how someone feels, while uncontrollability describes the situation.
Opposites
Word family
- control verb
- to direct or restrain
- controllable adjective
- able to be controlled
- uncontrollable adjective
- impossible to control
- uncontrollably adverb
- in a way that cannot be controlled
Commonly confused: uncontrollability or uncontrollable?
uncontrollability vs uncontrollable
Uncontrollable is the adjective, as in uncontrollable laughter. Uncontrollability is the noun naming the quality.
Practice
Researchers measured how the ____ of an event, not just its unpleasantness, affected people's stress.
Choose one answer.
After the, a noun is needed, so uncontrollability fits. Uncontrollable is an adjective and uncontrollably an adverb, so neither works in that slot.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “uncontrollability”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.