maybeness

English

Etymology

From maybe +‎ -ness.

Noun

maybeness (uncountable)

1. (informal) Uncertainty.
   • 1993, John C. Plott, James Michael Dolin, Global History of Philosophy, page 348:

     This "maybeness" of our knowing and not knowing, however, is sharply contrasted with the goal of Jaina yoga. For the Buddhist the goal is to eliminate suffering in nirvana, but the Jaina yogi's goal is omniscience.

   • 2017, John K. Young, How to Revise a True War Story, page 30:

     As I will demonstrate through the remainder of this book, that “maybeness” is built into O'Brien's works on the pages published and in the pages they might have been […]

   • 2019 August 9, Marisa L. Manuel, “I'm Asexual. This Is What It's Like For Me To Date.”, in HuffPost‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-06-09:

     It's my third year of college and I'm interested in a guy named Z. He's funny, cute, and friendly, and I feel absolutely nothing sexual toward him. The feeling is in my chest, best expressed through my smile and slowed reaction time around him. I tell my friend J, who knows I'm ace, and she asks me, "Would you sleep with him?" ¶ I tell her, "I don't know, I might," and I want that maybeness to be true. But even imagining that scenario makes me cringe.