What's the difference between maybe and uncertain?

Maybe


Definition:

  • (adv.) Perhaps; possibly; peradventure.
  • (a.) Possible; probable, but not sure.
  • (n.) Possibility; uncertainty.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Mike Ashley told Lee Charnley that maybe he could talk with me last week but I said: ‘Listen, we cannot say too much so I think it’s better if we wait.’ The message Mike Ashley is sending is quite positive, but it was better to talk after we play Tottenham.” Benítez will ask Ashley for written assurances over his transfer budget, control of transfers and other spheres of club autonomy, but can also reassure the owner that the prospect of managing in the second tier holds few fears for him.
  • (2) Maybe the world economy goes tits up again, only this time we punish the rich instead of the poor.
  • (3) But what they take for a witticism might very well be true; most of Ellis's novels tell more or less the same story, about the same alienated ennui, and maybe they really are nothing more than the fictionalised diaries of an unremarkably unhappy man.
  • (4) "Maybe dullness is associated with psychic pain," Wallace wrote at one point, "because something that's dull or opaque fails to provide enough stimulation to distract people from some other, deeper type of pain that is always there, if only in an ambient low-level way, and which most of us spend nearly all our time and energy trying to distract ourselves from."
  • (5) Maybe it’s because they are skulking, sedentary creatures, tied to their post; the theatre critic isn’t going anywhere other than the stalls, and then back home to write.
  • (6) But we sent out reconnoitres in the morning; we send out a team in advance and they get halfway down the road, maybe a quarter of the way down the road, sometimes three-quarters of the way down the road – we tried this three days in a row – and then the shelling starts and while I can’t point the finger at who starts the shelling, we get the absolute assurances from the Ukraine government that it’s not them.” Flags on all Australian government buildings will be flown at half-mast on Thursday, and an interdenominational memorial service will be held at St Patrick’s cathedral in Melbourne from 10.30am.
  • (7) Just last week he said: "Maybe I'll be a bit more chilled about it this year.
  • (8) I’m probably still far too immature, but maybe as I get older I could consider it.
  • (9) Perinatal brain damage produced by early zinc deficiency followed by rehabilitation with adequate zinc appears to be long term, maybe permanent.
  • (10) As cryptographer Matthew Green told the New York Times, 'If we could get $500,000 kicked back to OpenSSL and teams like it, maybe this kind of thing won't happen again."
  • (11) The guy upstairs, I heard he was maybe affiliated with Islamic Jihad, but he wasn't there.
  • (12) We just hope that … maybe she’s gone to see her friend, talk some sense into her,” Renu said, adding that Shamima “knew that it was a silly thing to do” and that she did not know why her friend had done it.
  • (13) Maybe in some senses this is the new face of friendship.
  • (14) On the other hand, maybe Riley is just the beginning.
  • (15) "This is the guy we've all seen in Borders or HMV on a Friday afternoon, possibly after a drink or two, tie slightly undone, buying two CDs, a DVD and maybe a book - fifty quid's worth - and frantically computing how he's going to convince his partner that this is a really, really worthwhile investment."
  • (16) In the end, the emails from citizen scientists nailed the timing: “looks like it started maybe December 2015”; the severity: “I’ve seen dieback before, but not like this”; and the cause: “guessing it may be the consequence of the four-year drought”.
  • (17) Doesn’t it ever need a break?” “Maybe it likes it,” he shoots back, a twinkle in his eye.
  • (18) Musk revealed his love for Kerbal Space Program in a Q&A in Reddit , joking (or maybe not?)
  • (19) Maybe he was simply obeying orders, since Gordon Brown is not about to sanction a radical overhaul of the tripartite system of financial regulation he created.
  • (20) "Maybe that's why they can't afford anywhere bigger: because they're always late for work."

Uncertain


Definition:

  • (a.) Not certain; not having certain knowledge; not assured in mind; distrustful.
  • (a.) Irresolute; inconsonant; variable; untrustworthy; as, an uncertain person; an uncertain breeze.
  • (a.) Questionable; equivocal; indefinite; problematical.
  • (a.) Not sure; liable to fall or err; fallible.
  • (a.) To make uncertain.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) However, the mechanism of the inhibitory action is still somewhat uncertain.
  • (2) Of course the job is not done and we will continue to remain vigilant to all risks, particularly when the global economic situation is so uncertain,” the chancellor said in a statement.
  • (3) The functional significance of these early changes in the nodal region is uncertain.
  • (4) Preservation of dopaminergic and H1 neurotransmission, probably within the blood barrier, is needed to allow the neuroendocrine transduction of cholinergic inputs, whereas the role of 5-HT neurotransmission remains uncertain.
  • (5) The nature of these infiltrative foci remains uncertain; however, they are unlikely to have been of neoplastic origin and may be due to interleukin-2-induced lymphocytic infiltration.
  • (6) Whether or not any alteration in disease progression will accrue from demonstrated local downstaging is, of course, uncertain.
  • (7) Similarly, it appears that acute hydronephrosis or worsening of an existing hydronephrosis has been somewhat overlooked as a possible cause of uncertain abdominal pain during pregnancy.
  • (8) In 11 patients, the electrophysiological mechanism remained uncertain.
  • (9) The nature of the cystatin C-immunoreactive substance in some of these vascular lesions is uncertain, but it might conceivably play an additional important role in the pathogenesis of brain hemorrhage in these cases.
  • (10) The mechanism of action is still uncertain but it is believed by some workers to be similar to that of a beta-adrenergic stimulator.
  • (11) Assays of drug levels in blood and of other biochemical characteristics of psychiatric patients are being proposed for clinical application, although their utility in practice remains uncertain.
  • (12) In 26 patients, including the two reported here, etiology was uncertain (idiopathic aneurysm of the left ventricle) in as much as malformation or an infectious disease might have been the underlying cause.
  • (13) Instead of inevitable defeat there is uncertain cop-out.
  • (14) The aetiology remains at present uncertain and therefore rational therapeutic strategies are difficult to plan.
  • (15) It was concluded that (1) there is a group of patients whose histories of poliomyelitis are uncertain, and (2) the lack of clear evidence for previous denervation after extensive electrodiagnostic testing is a valid means for excluding the diagnosis of postpoliomyelitis syndrome.
  • (16) Although approximately 24,000 adolescents were questioned, the investigations together provide an uncertain picture of the habits as these are not representative for Danish adolescents.
  • (17) McCall said the outlook remained uncertain: “The economic and operating environment remains uncertain, following the high levels of disruption and more recently the UK’s referendum decision to leave the EU, as well as the recent events in Turkey and Nice, which have affected consumer confidence.
  • (18) The significance of this event is uncertain; cleaved NGF demonstrates bioactivity and no function has been attributed to the octapeptide produced (NGF-OP; Ser-Ser-Thr-His-Pro-Val-Phe-His).
  • (19) While the histogenesis of these tumors remain uncertain, it is necessary to recognize that these aggressive neoplasms may occur primarily in the skin.
  • (20) Estimates of the number of eventual TA-AIDS cases to be seen are considerably more uncertain and require additional assumptions about the incubation distribution.