Inconclusive means not leading to a definite answer or clear result. When a science experiment is inconclusive, it doesn't prove or disprove the hypothesis: the results are unclear or could be interpreted in different ways. When doctors run medical tests that come back inconclusive, they can't make a firm diagnosis and may need to run more tests.

Think of it as the opposite of conclusive: instead of closing a question with a clear answer, an inconclusive result leaves the question still open.

You might encounter this word in detective stories, where an investigation turns up inconclusive evidence that doesn't clearly point to any particular suspect. A debate might end inconclusively if neither side convinces the audience. Scientists often get inconclusive results in their early experiments, which means they need to keep investigating, adjust their methods, or gather more data.