ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Ineffable

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ɪˈnɛf.ə.bəl/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Ineffable is an adjective meaning Beyond expression in words; unspeakable.

Meaning

Beyond expression in words; unspeakable.

More Meanings

  1. Forbidden to be uttered; taboo.

Example Sentences

As Alan Watts (1961) wrote, it involves trying to speak the unspeakable, scrute the inscrutable and eff the ineffable.
They, and many others, are one with the trains that ran them, part of that ineffable atmosphere of Scotland's railways.
Devotion bids aspire to nobler things, to boundless love, and joys ineffable: and such her expectation from kind Heav'n.
Stroeve was trying to express a feeling which he had never known before, and he did not know how to put it into common terms. He was like the mystic seeking to describe the ineffable.

Synonyms for ineffable

Depending on context, synonyms include indescribable, inexpressible, unspeakable, indefinable, undescribable, indicible.

Antonyms for ineffable

Common opposites include effable.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include indescribable, unexpressible, unspeakable, unutterable, inexpressible, untellable.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

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