beggar description

Idioms  

1. Defy or outdo any possible description, as in The stage set was so elaborate, it beggared description. This term, alluding to the idea that words are insufficient to do something justice, was already used by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra (2:2), “For her own person It beggared all description.”

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Example Sentences

And from sun rise to sun set, I passed through scenes and experiences that beggar description.

From Slate • Oct. 23, 2019

The acoustics are so complex that they beggar description.

From Time Magazine Archive

The indignation and horror of the North beggar description.

From Famous American Statesmen by Bolton, Sarah Knowles

As one courier after another returned with this same disheartening report, the terror and despair were such as to beggar description.

From Elsie at Nantucket by Finley, Martha

The mingled consternation, bereavement, and indignation which struggled for full expression in the words beggar description.

From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer)