unpredictable

3 definitions • 9 examples

likely to change suddenly and without reason and therefore not able to be predicted (= expected before it happens) or depended on:

The weather there can be unpredictable - one minute it's blue skies and the next minute it's pouring rain.

The hours in this job are very unpredictable - you sometimes have to work late at very short notice.

tending to change suddenly and without reason or warning, and therefore not able to be depended on:

unpredictable weather

The world is pretty unpredictable.

if something is unpredictable, it is likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly, so cannot be planned for:

To protect it from the unpredictable nature of software sales, the company has adopted a new business model.

unpredictable effects/events/factors Unpredictable events can have a huge impact on bond values.

It is a very unpredictable market.

The turmoil on Wall Street is emblematic of how the credit mess is spreading in unpredictable ways.

an unpredictable outcome/result