deniability

noun

de·​ni·​abil·​i·​ty dē-ˌnī-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce deniability (audio)
: the ability to deny something especially on the basis of being officially uninformed

Examples of deniability in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Each employee gets up hesitantly enough to afford them deniability if their king were to declare that anyone leaving ought to be imprisoned, their bodies still facing their cubicles until the final second. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 28 Feb. 2024 While the militias’ autonomy provides Iran with a degree of deniability, analysts say the current escalation is dangerously prone to overreach and miscalculation that could lead to a direct U.S.-Iran conflict. Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Feb. 2024 The actions though proxies give Iran a cloak of plausible deniability, said Vakil. Susannah George, Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2024 The possibility of misinterpretation—or plausible deniability—might be part of the appeal of using emoji at work. Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2023 Like so many prophets before and after him, Nostradamus surely understood that one’s reputation as a prognosticator required maintaining plausible deniability — while still reserving the right to claim accuracy later. Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 25 Dec. 2023 Operating in the grays of crime and middlemen, India would ensure deniability while still feeding strong signals to Mr. Modi’s information warfare network at home. Hari Kumar, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2023 The leadership of the U.N. bureaucracy used to benefit from a thin fig leaf of deniability, insulating it from the blatantly antisemitic dealings of a membership of which many consistently singled out Israel while all too frequently ignoring the misdeeds of the world’s authoritarians and butchers. The Editors, National Review, 25 Oct. 2023 The theme of the day Wednesday for the New York Jets: plausible deniability. Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deniability.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of deniability was in 1973

Dictionary Entries Near deniability

Cite this Entry

“Deniability.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deniability. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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