Meaning of unknown quantity | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A person or thing whose nature or value is a mystery.
   idiomatic
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see unknown, quantity.

Equivalents

Examples

“Whatever he had learned of himself was here of no avail. He was an unknown quantity.”

“. . . the Evening Post⟳ of this city to refer⟳ to him recently as "the young Belgian painter," and to the general public he is an unknown quantity.”

“The big French diesel is something of an unknown quantity, whereas many French-built electric locomotives developing 3,000 h.p. and more have⟳ been well proved in service.”

“In spite of more than three decades of public service, I knew I was an unknown quantity to many of my countrymen and to much of the world when I assumed office.”

“Amin Gemayel, it is felt here, is an unknown quantity and it is impossible to predict⟳ how he will act.”

“[H]e was still an unknown quantity – a young, untested figure⟳.”

“Many of the applications of mathematics require⟳ that you identify⟳ an unknown quantity, assign a variable to that quantity, and then attempt⟳ to express⟳ another unknown quantity in terms of that variable.”

“So promising was the Skunk Works' stealth cruise missile offering, the USAF ordered an unknown quantity of these missiles under a highly classified program⟳ dubbed Senior Prom.”

CEFR level