Uncertainty

Uncertainty
You may be uncertain why "uncertainty" deserves a place in a medical dictionary but some would say that uncertainty is a key element in medicine. "The core predicament of medicine — the thing that makes being a patient so wrenching, being a doctor so difficult and being a part of a society that pays the bills they run up so vexing — is uncertainty," observed the surgeon Atul Gawande. "Medicine's ground state is uncertainty. And wisdom — for both patients and doctors — is defined by how one copes with it." Source: Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. By Atul Gawande. Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Co., New York, 2002.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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  • uncertainty — uncertainty, doubt, dubiety, dubiosity, skepticism, suspicion, mistrust can all mean a feeling of unsureness about someone or something. Uncertainty stresses the lack of certainty or certitude that may range from a mere falling short of these to… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • uncertainty — un‧cer‧tain‧ty [ʌnˈsɜːtnti ǁ ɜːr ] noun [uncountable] a situation when what will happen in the future is likely to change, often in a way that is bad: • Exchange rate uncertainty is bound to reduce investment. uncertainty over/​about • The… …   Financial and business terms

  • uncertainty — [un sʉrt′ ntē] n. [ME uncerteynte] 1. lack of certainty; doubt 2. pl. uncertainties something uncertain SYN. UNCERTAINTY ranges in implication from a mere lack of absolute sureness [uncertainty about a date of birth ] to such vagueness as to… …   English World dictionary

  • Uncertainty — Solicita una imagen para este artículo. Título Uncertainty Ficha técnica …   Wikipedia Español

  • Uncertainty — Un*cer tain*ty, n.; pl. {Uncertainties}. [1913 Webster] 1. The quality or state of being uncertain. [1913 Webster] 2. That which is uncertain; something unknown. [1913 Webster] Our shepherd s case is every man s case that quits a moral certainty… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Uncertainty — est un film américain sorti en 2008 de style drame/thriller, écrit, produit et réalisé par Scott McGehee et David Siegel, deux réalisateurs indépendent. Les personnages principaux sont interprétés par Lynn Collins et Joseph Gordon Levitt. Il a… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • uncertainty — I noun ambiguity, ambivalence, chance, confusion, contingency, darkness, desultoriness, dilemma, dimness, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiousness, equivocation, faintness, feebleness, gamble, hazard, hesitancy, hesitation, improbability, incertitude,… …   Law dictionary

  • uncertainty — late 14c., from UNCERTAIN (Cf. uncertain) + TY (Cf. ty) …   Etymology dictionary

  • uncertainty — [n] doubt, changeableness ambiguity, ambivalence, anxiety, bewilderment, concern, confusion, conjecture, contingency, dilemma, disquiet, distrust, doubtfulness, dubiety, guesswork, hesitancy, hesitation, incertitude, inconclusiveness, indecision …   New thesaurus

  • uncertainty — ► NOUN (pl. uncertainties) 1) the state of being uncertain. 2) something that is uncertain or causes one to feel uncertain …   English terms dictionary

  • Uncertainty — For the film of the same name, see Uncertainty (film). Certainty series Agnosticism Belief Certainty Doubt Determinism Epistemology …   Wikipedia

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