Home › Glossary › Letter U

Uncertainty

Psychology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Lack of sureness and doubt about outcomes or truth, expressed through open endings, conditional syntax, and shifting imagery—in poetry, uncertainty reflects life's flux and challenges dogmatism, appearing in meditative and philosophical verse where knowledge recedes, and can be anxious or liberating, embracing ambiguity as a source of reflective depth.

Detailed Definition
Uncertainty in poetry questions through open endings, conditional syntax, and shifting imagery. It appears in meditative and philosophical verse, where knowledge recedes. Poets use uncertainty to reflect life's flux, inviting readers into ambiguity. It challenges dogmatism and celebrates wonder. Uncertainty can be anxious or liberating, and its embrace often signals mature wisdom, making the poem a space for exploring the unknown.
Example
Example in poetry:
Uncertainty in Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" where uncertainty is a theme; In W.H. Auden's "September 1, 1939," uncertainty is a theme; In contemporary poetry, uncertainty is a frequent theme; In "The Waste Land," uncertainty is a theme; In confessional poetry, uncertainty is often explored; In dramatic monologues, uncertainty reveals character.
Additional Notes
Uncertainty in poetry questions through open endings, conditional syntax, and shifting imagery, appearing in meditative and philosophical verse where knowledge recedes. In teaching, distinguish uncertainty from doubt: uncertainty is lack of sureness, while doubt is questioning of truth. Uncertainty reflects life's flux, challenging dogmatism and celebrating wonder. It can be anxious or liberating. Students should examine how poets use conditional language, open-ended imagery, and questioning tone to convey uncertainty's reflective, ambiguity-embracing quality.
Other Meanings of “Uncertainty”
Also Known As
Doubt indecision ambiguity equivocation unsureness
Skip to main content