1. That cannot be denied or refuted; incontrovertible, indisputable.
1547. Coverdale, Old Faith, E viij b. Now is it certayne and vndenyable, that he which speaketh, & he to whom ought is spoken, are not one, but two personnes.
1594. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., II. vii. § 9. If there be either vndeniable appearance that so it doth [avouch], or reason such as cannot deceiue.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, I. Ded. p. vii. This ancient, undeniable aphorisme.
1651. Baxter, Inf. Bapt., 229. I will name some undeniable Arguments.
1727. De Foe, Hist. Appar., ii. (1840), 19. These apparitions of angels … are undeniable on other occasions.
1794. R. J. Sulivan, View Nat., I. 455. The fact is undeniable.
1809–10. Coleridge, Friend (1865), 118. The system commences with an undeniable truth, and an important deduction therefrom equally undeniable.
1880. Swinburne, Stud. Shaks., 301. What he did say was undeniable by any but those who trusted only to their ear.
b. Of witnesses: Irrefragable.
1619. Mrq. Buckhm., in Fortescue Papers (Camden), 78. You were accused of nothing that was not proved by oath of divers witnesses alltogither undeniable.
1663. Bp. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxviii. Together with the testimony of many undeniable Witnesses.
1855. Milman, Lat. Chr., IX. v. IV. 111, note. The historians, all ecclesiastics, are undeniable witnesses.
1883. Contemp. Rev., June, 774. Karema is there as an undeniable witness of the success of these efforts.
2. Incapable of being refused; admitting or accepting no denial.
1549. Olde, Erasm. Par. Peter, Dedication. I toke it in hande for none other ende, but only to doe at my hartie frendes vndenyable request.
1649. Jer. Taylor, Gt. Exemp., II. xii. 42. The multitude found him out, imprisoning him in their circuits and undeniable attendances. Ibid., III. xiv. 42. The seeming denial made her importunity more bold and undenyable.
1839. Lady Lytton, Cheveley (ed. 2), III. vi. 150. Thoughts, those … undeniable visitors, will intrude.
3. Not open to objection; unexceptional, excellent.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., Contents, p. ix. Moorstone being undeniable.
1799. H. Mitchell, Scotticisms, 87. His public character is undeniable.
1808. Times, 2 March, 4/1. Nursery Maid…; can have an undeniable character from the Lady she last served.
1861. Whyte-Melville, Market Harb., viii. Her foot and ankle were undeniable, and her hands white and well-shaped.
1884. Graphic, 9 Aug., 134/1. Italian fruits … are open to much criticism, but the grapes and green figs are undeniable.
absol. 1861. Whyte-Melville, Market Harb., xx. A dry biscuit and a magnum of the undeniable make their appearance.
Hence Undeniableness.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 254. What Author so ever denyeth the undeniablenesse of any of our received Tenets.
1677. Gilpin, Demonol. (1867), 463. The plainness and undeniableness of this inference.
1889. 19th Cent., Sept., 404. The undeniableness of the facts he adduces.
