unmentionable

[ uhn-men-shuh-nuh-buhl ]

adjective

1. not mentionable; inappropriate, unfit, or improper for mention, as in polite conversation; unspeakable.

noun

1. something that is not to be mentioned:

   That subject was classed among the unmentionables.

2. unmentionables,
   1. undergarments.
   2. (formerly) trousers or breeches.

unmentionable

/ ʌnˈmɛnʃənəbəl /

adjective

1. 1. unsuitable or forbidden as a topic of conversation
   2. ( as noun )

      the unmentionable

Derived Forms

• unˈmentionableness, noun
• unˈmentionably, adverb

Other Words From

• un·mention·a·ble·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unmentionable¹

First recorded in 1820–30; un- ¹ + mentionable

Example Sentences

Finally, 27 minutes and 48 seconds into his monologue, Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the unmentionable: Palestinians.

From The Daily Beast

Yet climate change continues to be the great unmentionable on Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trail.

From The Daily Beast

What really set her off was mentioning the unmentionable—that 18 years ago, she shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco.

From The Daily Beast

The unmentionable image rattles down to the core of our brain.

From The Daily Beast

Men and women "publicly practised unmentionable abominations."

From Project Gutenberg

Polly called her a once unmentionable name that was coming into fashionable use after a long exile.

From Project Gutenberg

Nibletts certified the cause of death as that unmentionable complaint, the pip.

From Project Gutenberg

Each looked as though the other were something unmentionable, left over from the last cleaning of the cesspool.

From Project Gutenberg

So we walked to the door, and we threw it open, and we stepped together into the house of the Unmentionable Times.

From Project Gutenberg