unspeakable

[uhn-spee-kuh-buhl]

adjective

1. not speakable; that may not be spoken.

2. exceeding the power of speech; unutterable; inexpressible; indescribable.

   Synonyms: unimaginable, ineffable

3. inexpressibly bad or objectionable.

unspeakable

/ ʌnˈspiːkəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of expression in words

   unspeakable ecstasy

2. indescribably bad or evil

3. not to be uttered

   unspeakable thoughts

Other Word Forms

• unspeakableness noun
• unspeakably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unspeakable¹

1350–1400; Middle English unspekeabill. See un- ¹, speak ( def. ), -able ( def. )

Example Sentences

After more than a decade of unspeakable and unending violence, the challenge in Syria is no longer finding mass graves.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ought she lie, and say some horrible fate had befallen her speech, thus rendering it unspeakable?

Read more on Literature

True crime thrives on deriving explanations for unspeakable acts people do from the crime they commit and the ones committed against them.

Read more on Salon

Situated among these bursts of color and patterns and Afrocentric pride, though, are photos of unspeakable losses.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Out in the benign but swollen landscape, so placid now but so full of potential unrest, unspeakable things have happened.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abominable 
• appalling 
• atrocious 
• awful 
• dreadful 
• heinous 
• horrible 
• inconceivable 
• indescribable 
• ineffable 
• inhuman 
• monstrous 
• odious 
• shocking 
• unbelievable 
• unimaginable