English Reference
Adjective

uncontrollable

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ˌənkənˈtɹoʊɫəbəɫ/ UK /ʌnkəntɹˈəʊləbəl/ un·con·trol·lable

adj.impossible to manage or stop. You use this to describe feelings, people, or situations that you cannot keep under control.

adj.impossible to restrain, manage, or govern. Often describes physiological responses or intense emotional states that occur despite the subject's efforts to suppress them.


SIMPLE

She burst into uncontrollable laughter during the meeting.

CONTEXTUAL

The forest fire became uncontrollable due to the high winds and dry conditions in the valley.

COMPLEX

The witness was overcome by uncontrollable sobbing, forcing the judge to call a brief recess so the proceedings could continue in a more orderly fashion.

Usage

Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'become' or 'seem', or attributively before nouns describing emotions or physical reactions.

As they strolled through Paris's streets, Anaïs began to feel an inexplicable and uncontrollable need to urinate.

BBC News· 19 Aug 2026

It was helpful." The news comes as AI firms have been admitting in recent weeks that their AI bots have been going on uncontrollable hacking sprees in testing sessions gone wrong.

BBC News· 11 Aug 2026

From un- + controllable.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated