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Glite Dictionary
unutterable pain

unutterable pain

8.6
A feeling of pain too strong to describe in words
  • noun
  • /ʌnˈʌtərəbəl peɪn/
  • Literature
translation icon : dolor inexpresable
  • She felt an unutterable pain after losing her child.

Examples

  • His silence spoke of the unutterable pain he felt inside.

  • In her diary, she tried to capture the unutterable pain that words could not express.

  • She experienced an unutterable pain after hearing the tragic news.

  • The unutterable pain of heartbreak can last for years.

  • In her diary, she tried to capture the unutterable pain that words could not express.

  • She experienced an unutterable pain after hearing the tragic news.

  • The unutterable pain of heartbreak can last for years.

Synonyms

agony
vsunutterable pain
135 3.9

A very strong physical or mental pain

is more intense and so overwhelming it cannot be described
anguish
vsunutterable pain
96 6.8

A very strong, painful feeling of worry or sadness

is about unbearable intensity rather than general distress

Antonyms

bearable
25 3.2

Not too painful or unpleasant to handle

How Painful

unutterable pain
  • Literature
8.6
pain
∞ 1.0
ache
92 1.3
discomfort
119 3.2

Surface Forms

unutterable pain singular
unutterable pains plural

Morphology

unutterable + pain

The meaning is directly compositional: 'unutterable' means 'too intense or vast to be expressed in words' and 'pain' means suffering, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'pain so intense it cannot be described'. This adjective+noun pattern and the notion of something being 'indescribable' is cross-linguistically common, making the MWE immediately transparent to learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

Unutterable pain comes from the simple idea that unutterable means 'cannot be said' and pain means very strong suffering. So, it describes a hurt so deep or too strong that words fail to explain it.