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incommensurably

incommensurably

9.9
Far too large or different to compare
  • adverb
  • /ˌɪnkəˈmɛnʃərəbli/
  • Formal
translation icon : inconmensurablemente
  • The joy of seeing my family again was incommensurably deep, far beyond my expectations.
  • incommensurably valuable

Examples

  • Let me persist: what is really happening when Berlin says that cultures and ways of life are incommensurably valuable?

    Academic text (1999)
  • Without a moral minimum, value pluralism would lead to such absurdity as considering Serbia and Sweden today as incommensurably decent societies.

    Academic text (1999)
  • To say that cultures are incommensurably valuable is not to say that they are equally valuable.

    Academic text (1999)
  • All the activities of any culture are a piece; they compose a stylization that is incommensurably valuable.

    Academic text (1999)
  • I leave aside the predicament of the actor, the person who must act yet is faced with a choice between incommensurably valuable experiences, attainments, or courses of action.

    Academic text (1999)
  • In sum, incommensurably valuable cultural diversity as such, rather than the cumulative sublimity of such diversity, becomes the royal road to the attempt to resist all kinds of determinism and reduction.

    Academic text (1999)
  • They are incommensurably valuable and are equally needed to develop our sense of nature's bounty, even if we prefer one to the other as a matter of personal taste, or like them equally, or dislike both.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The beauty of the sunset was incommensurably greater than any words could describe.

  • Her contributions to the project were incommensurably significant, surpassing everyone else's efforts.

Synonyms

immeasurably
vsincommensurably
10 5.4

To a very great degree that you cannot count

also stresses that it cannot be compared with anything else
unspeakably
vsincommensurably
8 6.8

Very much in a way that is hard to describe

highlights inability to measure or compare rather than inability to speak
unimaginably
vsincommensurably
8 6.8

To a degree that is very hard to believe

refers to inability to measure or compare rather than mere imagination limits
indescribably
vsincommensurably
4 6.5

In a way that is so strong it is hard to put into words

refers instead to being beyond measurement or comparison
incomparably
vsincommensurably
2 6.3

Much better than anything else

stresses not just uniqueness but also being too large to measure
inconceivably
vsincommensurably
2 7.7

In a way that is very hard to imagine

stresses quantifiable measurement and comparison limits rather than imagination
incalculably
vsincommensurably
1 7.6

By a very large amount that cannot be measured

emphasizes also that nothing else matches its scale or degree
inexpressibly
vsincommensurably
1 7.7

Very much in a way that words cannot describe

stresses inability to measure or compare rather than only expression limits
unutterably
vsincommensurably
1 8.1

So strong that you cannot find words to describe it

points to not being measurable or comparable rather than unsayable
inestimably
vsincommensurably
1 8.6

So great that you cannot measure it

adds idea that it cannot be compared to anything else
ineffably
vsincommensurably
  • Formal
1 9.8

So great that you cannot find words to describe it

emphasizes measurable or comparable scale rather than word limits
uncomparably
vsincommensurably
8.1

Much more than others so nothing can match it

adds attention to being too large to measure rather than only unmatched
indefinably
vsincommensurably
7.5

In a way you cannot clearly describe

focuses on extreme degree beyond measure or comparison not only vagueness

Antonyms

4 4.4

In a way you can measure or clearly notice

How Strongly

incommensurably
  • Formal
9.9
extremely
1.0
considerably
144 3.4
somewhat
816 2.0
slightly
885 1.0

Surface Forms

incommensurably positive

Morphology

incommensurably = incommensurable (semi-transparent) = in + com + mensur + able + ly

The adverb is regularly formed from the adjective 'incommensurable' with '-ly', so if the adjective is known the adverb meaning is easy to infer.

Etymology

Incommensurably comes from the part in- meaning 'not' and a root linked to measure, so it originally meant 'not able to be measured or compared'. That's why we use it today to say something is 'extremely' or 'vastly' greater or different.