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untranslatable

American  
[uhn-tranz-lay-tuh-buhl, -trans-] / ˌʌn trænzˈleɪ tə bəl, -træns- /

adjective

  1. having a meaning, message, or effect that cannot be translated into another language.


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.

See Examples For:

I think there’s a kind of quiet beauty in leaving some things untranslatable, and just sitting beside someone with very different value systems and understanding, “This is what gives you joy.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2023

“Dharma,” one of the great untranslatable Indic words, can mean “duty,” or “religion” or “vocation,” but it is fundamentally a duty to oneself, to one’s nature.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023

Writing in English, Spanish and Nahuatl, Vértiz honors and relishes the feeling of being untranslatable.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2019

Tsundoku is such a relatable but untranslatable concept that it regularly re-enters our Western consciousness through online articles.

From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2018

No doubt this was all a matter of shifgrethor—prestige, face, place, the pride-relationship, the untranslatable and all-important principle of social authority in Karhide and all civilizations of Gethen.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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