deniability
noun
de·ni·abil·i·ty
| \ dē-ˌnī-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē
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Definition of deniability
: the ability to deny something especially on the basis of being officially uninformed
Examples of deniability in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In this way Trump has taken away one of the most effective weapons used by racists -- plausible deniability, Kruse told me. — John Blake, CNN, "Trump is doing what Obama couldn't," 23 Aug. 2019 Chaos that could create opportunities for—and plausible deniability about—more serious fraud and criminality. — Alex Pareene, The New Republic, "The Simple, Odious Reason Mitch McConnell Opposes Election Integrity," 31 July 2019 And if Iran wanted to kill Americans, any of those groups could do that on its behalf, with some deniability, said the experts. — Ken Dilanian, NBC News, "If the U.S. strikes Iran, what might happen next?," 21 June 2019 Mystery itself became his protest of plausible deniability. — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, "‘Epstein Is Gone, but Justice Must Still Be Served’," 10 Aug. 2019 The two other women were arrested to provide plausible deniability that the operation was politically motivated, the suit alleges. — Alex Johnson, NBC News, "Ohio officers involved in Stormy Daniels strip club arrest face departmental charges," 1 Aug. 2019 And unlike conventional weapons, whose trajectories are easily traced, cyber weapons, which move through fibre-optic cables that crisscross the globe, lend themselves to plausible deniability. — Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, "How Cyber Weapons Are Changing the Landscape of Modern Warfare," 18 July 2019 The strategy allows for deniability on the part of labs, who sell the peptides to the clinics at cost. — Lindsay Gellman, Longreads, "The Last Resort," 22 Mar. 2018 Prosecutors would likely respond that by speaking broadly to the public instead of privately to Stone, Trump was trying to influence Stone in a manner that gave him plausible deniability. — Sean Illing, Vox, "Did Trump commit witness tampering by tweet? I asked 9 legal experts.," 3 Dec. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deniability.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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