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# unclear

«unclear» in Mova's school dictionary: **Not easy to understand, see or hear; confusing** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (unclear, more unclear, most unclear)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Not easy to understand, see or hear; confusing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#m1)

2) Not known for sure: «It is unclear who won.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#m2)

3) (of a person) Not sure about something: «I'm unclear about the homework.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In school: unclear instructions, unclear handwriting, an unclear question in a test. In news and stories: «It is still unclear what happened» means nobody knows yet. In maths, if a problem is unclear, ask what is given and what is asked.

### examples

- The instructions were unclear, so we asked the teacher. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#x1)
- His handwriting is unclear; is that a 1 or a 7? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#x2)
- It is unclear whether the match will go ahead. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#x3)
- I'm unclear about what we have to do for homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#x4)
- The photo was unclear because the camera moved. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#x5)
- The cause of the fire is still unclear. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/#x6)

### note

Takes «an»: «an unclear answer». Often in «It is unclear whether/who/why …». Opposite: clear. Do not confuse with «unclean» (dirty).

### In the corpora

- [Unclear promises cause rows; «give» means to keep, «lend» means to give back.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/433-big-kids-little-kids-and-the-truth-at-home/36/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «unclear» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unclear/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.