ineffable
Americanadjective
-
incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible.
ineffable joy.
-
not to be spoken because of its sacredness; unutterable.
the ineffable name of the deity.
- Synonyms:
- unspeakable
adjective
-
too great or intense to be expressed in words; unutterable
-
too sacred to be uttered
-
indescribable; indefinable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ineffable
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Latin word ineffābilis. See in- 3, effable
Explanation
Anything ineffable is unspeakably beautiful, moving, or horrible. It’s beyond expression. If something is so powerful or emotional that you can't even describe it, it’s ineffable. Ineffable ideas and emotions are difficult to put into words. Parents might feel an ineffable sadness and pride when watching their youngest child graduate from high school. Ineffable can also be used to describe a name that is so sacred you’re not allowed to say it. This word comes from the adjective effable, which means “something that can lawfully be expressed in words,” and isn’t used much anymore.
Vocabulary lists containing ineffable
The Great Gatsby
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Anti-Antonyms: Words Without Opposites
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bigger half is that ineffable star-stuff: the essence, the soul.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
"We are grateful for her passion, her wit, her ineffable style, and all the summers she spent in the tent."
From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026
With Frankenstein, he worries he’ll jinx the monster by talking too much about him, snuffing out the ineffable thing that he says fueled his performance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
She wasn’t so much superstitious as obedient, devoted to making the ineffable routine and mysticism accessible even to the uninitiated.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2025
It all added up to more than he could really put into words, maybe more than even a poet could—something beyond the sum of its parts, something mysterious and ineffable and gorgeous to behold.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
