untenable

adjective

un·ten·a·ble ˌən-ˈte-nə-bəl

Synonyms of untenable next

: not able to be defended

an untenable position

: not able to be occupied

untenable apartments

untenability

ˌən-ˌte-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

noun

Did you know?

Untenable and its opposite tenable come to us from the Old French verb tenir ("to hold, have possession of"), and ultimately from the Latin verb tenēre ("to hold, occupy, possess"). We tend to use untenable in situations where an idea or position is so off base that holding onto it is unjustified or inexcusable. One way to hold onto the meaning of untenable is to associate it with other tenēre descendants whose meanings are associated with "holding" or "holding onto." Tenacious ("holding fast") is one example. Others are contain, detain, sustain, maintain, and retain. Spanish speakers may also recognize tenēre as a predecessor of the commonplace verb tener, which retains the meaning of "to hold or possess."

Examples of untenable in a Sentence

The Agriculture Department is in an untenable position. With the two hats that it wears—one to protect consumer health and the other to help farmers sell food—it cannot tell us to eat fewer calories. After all, fewer calories generally mean less food, which would fly in the face of the department's mandate to help farmers. —

Marian Burros, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2002

But scholars are citizens, too, and if it is wrongheaded to demand political payoff from basic research, it would be equally untenable to demand that research be quarantined from the real-world considerations that weigh so heavily upon us. —

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times, 4 Apr. 1998

All the theories of the Moon's origin proposed before the Apollo Moon landings of 1969 … became untenable when the rocks returned from the Moon proved to be as old as the Earth and significantly dissimilar. —

Physics Today, January 1997

The problem was then resolved—not by finding that the conduct in question was justified, because that would have offended the judge's sense of order, and not by rejecting the applicability of the defense, which would have led to a reportable opinion and an appeal—but through a dismissal of the charges on the wholly untenable ground that the prosecution had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. —

Edward N. Costikyan, New York Times Book Review, 13 Mar. 1988

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

That’s an untenable situation, given his small role. —

Dan Pompei, The Athletic, 17 Feb. 2025 At the same time, the bills are piling up, adding to an increasingly untenable situation. —

Alicia Wallace, CNN, 13 Feb. 2025 The Dallas Mavericks recently shocked the sporting world by trading Luka Dončić, widely agreed to be one of the best young players the NBA has ever seen, in large part because of a belief that his poor conditioning made an impending $345 million contract extension untenable for the franchise. —

Jordan Sargent, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2025 The relationship became untenable between the pair as time went on. —

Ryan Canfield, Fox News, 1 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for untenable