ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsUuntenable
ISEE/SSAThard
untenable
Meaning: impossible to defend, support, or maintain
untenable in a sentence
How untenable is used in real sentences:
The witness's new account became untenable once the video emerged.
After researchers exposed its faulty assumptions, the theory was untenable.
“Marlow considered that compromise untenable because rain could loosen boulders above hikers, making the appearance of safety more dangerous than an honest closure.”
— from the passage The Juniper Recovery
Synonyms for untenable
Other words for untenable — indefensible, unsustainable and unjustifiable — carry the same meaning.
- indefensible
- unsustainable
- unjustifiable
Antonyms of untenable
Words that mean the opposite of untenable:
- defensible
- sustainable
- tenable
Where it comes from
From un- and tenable, rooted in Latin tenere, meaning 'to hold.'
Memory hook
UN-TENABLE means 'not able to hold': an untenable claim cannot hold up.