ineffable
8
9.5
- adjective
- /ɪˈnɛfəbəl/
- Formal
:
inefable
- But very often, as soon as you start putting something in the ineffable range into words, it pulls you out of the experience.
- ineffable experience
- ineffable essence
- ineffable nature
God is the ineffable spirit that unites all.
- God is the ineffable spirit that unites all.
- What is the language to express this mysterious, ineffable part of human nature?
- Love not as a sentiment, but the ineffable interconnectedness with all that exists.
- Obviously using different metaphor for trying to convey the ineffable perhaps.
- And then she, despite her circumstances, was this ineffable spirit who had this sort of moral code.
- But we cannot adequately comprehend it, so it's ineffable indeed.
- Throughout history, great thinkers and philosophers have supposed that there is something divine and ineffable in creation.
- But very often, as soon as you start putting something in the ineffable range into words, it pulls you out of the experience.
- And he says, well, from lab tests, from the appearance of her skin, from her general demeanour, from, you know, various sort of ineffable factors.
- And consciousness is the ineffable spirit, without which there is no science, no philosophy, no nothing, no artificial intelligence, no Internet.
- Being experienced by someone else is in some ineffable way is healing.
- And then I'm looking for the ineffable, how I feel.
- So they'll tell you and A, you will learn something important and B, that ineffable thing happens.
- But there is a, a ineffable universe of I athlete's foot and my, my gluten intolerance and my chronic flatulence and my, you know, whatever else.
Examples
-
The beauty of the sunset was ineffable, filling our hearts with a sense of peace that words could not convey.
-
Dionysios the Areopagite insisted that it is impossible to describe God, because God is ineffable.
Academic text (2015) -
And then she, despite her circumstances, was this ineffable spirit who had this sort of moral code.
-
In some deep sense, this Self is assumed to be ineffable, private.
Academic text (1993) -
What is the language to express this mysterious, ineffable part of human nature?
-
God is the ineffable spirit that unites all.
-
And that is nothingness, an ineffable reality.
-
Love not as a sentiment, but the ineffable interconnectedness with all that exists.
-
Through popular devotions, people touch the mystery of the divine in ineffable ways.
Academic text (2006) -
Throughout history, great thinkers and philosophers have supposed that there is something divine and ineffable in creation.
Synonyms
58
7.2
Too terrible to describe in words
21
5.4
So wonderful or strange that words cannot show it
14
6.2
So beautiful or moving that you cannot describe it
4
6.9
Hard to describe or explain in words
3
7.5
A feeling so strong that you cannot describe it in words
3
6.8
Hard to describe exactly in words
1
8.9
Too great or strong to put into words
1
7.8
Hard to describe in words
1
7.7
Too hard to describe in words
1
8.5
Too hard to put into words
So great you cannot describe it in words
So strong or deep that words cannot describe it
Antonyms
How Expressible
- Formal
8
9.5
21
5.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Ineffable comes from the Latin parts in- meaning 'not' and fari meaning 'to speak', the same root you see in fable. So something ineffable is 'not to be spoken' because it is too great or deep for words.