unutterable

American  

[uhn-uht-er-uh-buhl] / ʌnˈʌt ər ə bəl /

adjective

1. not communicable by utterance; unspeakable; beyond expression.

   unutterable joy.

2. not utterable; not pronounceable.

   an unutterable foreign word.

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unutterable British  

/ ʌnˈʌtərəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being expressed in words

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Other Word Forms

• unutterableness
  noun
• unutterably
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of unutterable

1580–90; un- ¹ + utterable ( def. )

Explanation

Anything that's just too horrible to say out loud is unutterable. Waking in unutterable fear from a nightmare makes it hard to fall back to sleep again. Intense feelings tend to be unutterable, whether it's your profound sorrow at the death of your cat or your unspeakable urge to strangle your sister from time to time. This adjective is ideal for describing things that can't be uttered, or expressed in words, from a root meaning "out." During the Victorian era, it was thought by many to be vulgar to talk about pants or trousers, and some people used euphemisms instead — including calling them unutterables.

Example Sentences

Ocean and earth, the solid frame of earth And ocean's liquid mass, in gladness lay Beneath him; far and wide the clouds were touched, And in their silent faces could he read Unutterable love.

From Studies in Medi?val Life and Literature by McLaughlin, Edward Tompkins

Unutterable and incomprehensible emotions were awakened in the soul of the boy by the stillness and beauty of the evening world.

From The Redemption of David Corson by Goss, Charles Frederic

Unutterable splendor of light and sheen and shadow.

From Other Main-Travelled Roads by Garland, Hamlin

Unutterable tenderness is the characteristic of all His dealings.

From The Words of Jesus by Macduff, John R. (John Ross)

Unutterable still, for me, was the stupefaction of it.

From The Turn of the Screw by James, Henry