undeˈniable, a.
[un-1 7 b and 5 b.]
1. That cannot be denied or refuted; incontrovertible, indisputable.
| 1547 Coverdale Old Faith E viij b, Now is it certayne and vndenyable, that he which speaketh, & he to whom ought is spoken, are not one, but two personnes. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. ii. vii. §9 If there be either vndeniable appearance that so it doth [avouch], or reason such as cannot deceiue. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows i. Ded. p. vii, This ancient, undeniable aphorisme. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 229, I will name some undeniable Arguments. 1727 De Foe Hist. Appar. ii. (1840) 19 These apparitions of angels..are undeniable on other occasions. 1794 R. J. Sulivan View Nat. I. 455 The fact is undeniable. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend (1865) 118 The system commences with an undeniable truth, and an important deduction therefrom equally undeniable. 1880 Swinburne Stud. Shaks. 301 What he did say was undeniable by any but those who trusted only to their ear. |
b. Of witnesses: Irrefragable.
| 1619 Marquis of Buckingham in Fortescue Papers (Camden) 78 You were accused of nothing that was not proved by oath of divers witnesses alltogither undeniable. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xxviii, Together with the testimony of many undeniable Witnesses. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. ix. v. IV. 111 note, The historians, all ecclesiastics, are undeniable witnesses. 1883 Contemp. Rev. June 774 Karema is there as an undeniable witness of the success of these efforts. |
2. Incapable of being refused; admitting or accepting no denial.
| 1549 Olde Erasm. Par. Peter Dedication, I toke it in hande for none other ende, but only to doe at my hartie frendes vndenyable request. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. xii. 42 The multitude found him out, imprisoning him in their circuits and undeniable attendances. Ibid. iii. xiv. 42 The seeming denial made her importunity more bold and undenyable. 1839 Lady Lytton Cheveley (ed. 2) III. vi. 150 Thoughts, those..undeniable visitors, will intrude. |
3. Not open to objection; unexceptional, excellent.
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. Contents p. ix, Moorstone being undeniable. 1799 H. Mitchell Scotticisms 87 His public character is undeniable. 1808 Times 2 Mar. 4/1 Nursery Maid..; can have an undeniable character from the Lady she last served. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harb. viii, Her foot and ankle were undeniable, and her hands white and well-shaped. 1884 Graphic 9 Aug. 134/1 Italian fruits..are open to much criticism, but the grapes and green figs are undeniable. |
| absol. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Market Harb. xx, A dry biscuit and a magnum of the undeniable make their appearance. |
Hence
undeˈniableness.
| 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 254 What Author so ever denyeth the undeniablenesse of any of our received Tenets. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 463 The plainness and undeniableness of this inference. 1889 19th Cent. Sept. 404 The undeniableness of the facts he adduces. |