deniable

American  

[dih-nahy-uh-buhl] / dɪˈnaɪ ə bəl /

adjective

1. capable of being or liable to be denied or contradicted.

---

deniable British  

/ dɪˈnaɪəbəl /

adjective

1. able to be denied; questionable

---

Other Word Forms

• deniably adverb

Etymology

Origin of deniable

First recorded in 1540–50; deny + -able

Explanation

When you’re doing something you don't necessarily want to own up to, something you may want to deny ever happened, you can try to create a cloud of uncertainty and make it deniable. Secret government agencies are adept at covering their tracks so their actions remain deniable. An intelligence bureau may work to encourage a coup, but by working through spies and operatives, the agency tries to keep its role secret and deniable. If you're addicted to late-night scenes of gluttony with chocolate-chip cookies, you may want to keep that secret deniable by creating a phantom aunt with a special fondness for cookies.

Example Sentences

“The approach up until a couple years ago had been to clear them out, but it’s now no longer deniable that that doesn’t solve the problem,” he told the BBC.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2024

Russia, they said, may believe it can sidestep the sanctions in a deniable way.

From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2024

Perhaps, some analysts suggested, it marked the demise of a nettlesome character whose usefulness — as a deniable military asset, international fixer and pro-Kremlin master of the media dark arts — had run its course.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2023

It's also leaderless and therefore easily deniable, allowing it to proliferate in spaces designed to be escapist and unserious.

From Salon • Jun. 30, 2022

Finally, as these five are the only things affirmable, so are they the only things deniable.

From Analysis of Mr. Mill's System of Logic by Stebbing, W. (William)