untraceable

IPA/ʌnˈtreɪ.sə.bəl/
KK[əntrˈesəbəl]IPA/ʌnˈtreɪ.sə.bəl/

untraceable — 形容詞

  • untraceablepositive
  • more untraceablecomparative
  • most untraceablesuperlative

1. describes something whose source, creator, or starting point cannot be discovere

1.形容詞B2
釋義

無從追查

無法查出源頭或創始者

describes something whose source, creator, or starting point cannot be discovered or identified

例句

The police found the bomb was made from parts that were completely untraceable.

警方發現那枚炸彈使用的零件完全無從追查。

completely untraceable — intensifier pattern

The anonymous donations to the charity came from untraceable senders.

捐給該慈善機構的匿名捐款來自無從追查的寄件人。

同義詞
  • anonymous

    focuses on the giver or doer being unnamed, not necessarily the source being unidentifiable

  • unidentifiable

    emphasises that identifying information is missing or insufficient

  • unattributed

    formal, used especially for quotes, works, or statements whose author is not known

反義詞
  • traceable

    the direct opposite — possible to find the origin

  • identifiable

    possible to recognise or name the source

常見錯誤

❌The file is untraceable back to its owner
✅The file cannot be traced back to its owner.
💡'untraceable' already means 'cannot be traced'; avoid pairing it with 'back' in the same clause.

2. describes a person or thing that cannot be located or tracked down, especially a

2.形容詞B2
釋義

下落不明

找不到失蹤的人或物

describes a person or thing that cannot be located or tracked down, especially after being lost or missing

例句

After the earthquake, hundreds of families reported their relatives as untraceable.

地震過後，數百個家庭通報他們的親人下落不明。

reported [someone] as untraceable — passive reporting pattern

The stolen painting has been untraceable for nearly a decade despite an international search.

那幅失竊的畫作雖然經過全球協尋，仍已下落不明將近十年。

同義詞
  • missing

    simpler and more common; does not carry the implication that search efforts have failed

  • lost

    suggests the person or thing has wandered away or been misplaced

  • unaccounted for

    formal, used especially in official reports following a disaster

反義詞
  • found

    the simple opposite in everyday use

  • located

    more formal; implies a deliberate search succeeded

用法筆記

Subject is usually a person who has gone missing or an object that has been lost. Unlike the ORIGIN UNKNOWN sense, this sense does not involve discovering who created something — it is about locating someone or something that already existed.

常見錯誤

❌The money is untraceable' (when meaning the origin is hidden).
✅The source of the money is untraceable.
💡if you mean the origin cannot be discovered, use sense 1. If you mean the money itself cannot be found, use sense 2.

3. describes a chemical or biological substance that cannot be discovered by standa

3.形容詞C1
釋義

無法檢測

用標準方法也測不出

describes a chemical or biological substance that cannot be discovered by standard testing or monitoring equipment

例句

The poison was specially designed to be untraceable in standard blood tests.

這種毒藥是特別設計的，在一般血液檢測中無法被測出。

untraceable in [test/analysis] — prepositional pattern

Some new synthetic drugs are virtually untraceable through conventional screening methods.

某些新型合成藥物用傳統篩檢方法幾乎無法檢測出來。

同義詞
  • undetectable

    more common in everyday technical use; both words are largely interchangeable in this sense

  • invisible

    more general; does not specifically refer to chemical or biological detection

  • imperceptible

    broader — refers to what cannot be perceived by any of the senses, not just testing

反義詞
  • detectable

    the direct opposite; possible to discover through testing

  • traceable

    possible to find by following a chemical or biological trail

用法筆記

Common in forensic science and medical contexts. The substance's undetectability is a property of the testing method, not the substance itself — a more sensitive test may detect what was previously untraceable.