unutterable

American  

[uhn-uht-er-uh-buhl] / ʌnˈʌt ər ə bəl /

adjective

1. not communicable by utterance; unspeakable; beyond expression.

   unutterable joy.

2. not utterable; not pronounceable.

   an unutterable foreign word.

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unutterable British  

/ ʌnˈʌtərəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being expressed in words

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Other Word Forms

• unutterableness noun
• unutterably adverb

Etymology

Origin of unutterable

1580–90; un- ¹ + utterable ( def. )

Explanation

Anything that's just too horrible to say out loud is unutterable. Waking in unutterable fear from a nightmare makes it hard to fall back to sleep again. Intense feelings tend to be unutterable, whether it's your profound sorrow at the death of your cat or your unspeakable urge to strangle your sister from time to time. This adjective is ideal for describing things that can't be uttered, or expressed in words, from a root meaning "out." During the Victorian era, it was thought by many to be vulgar to talk about pants or trousers, and some people used euphemisms instead — including calling them unutterables.

Example Sentences

“Have the merciless persecutions and unutterable tortures of the dark ages not yet opened their eyes and enlarged their heart for the alleviation of their fellow men’s woes?”

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2025

Soon after the Rwanda policy was announced, he issued an Easter message about the "unutterable tragedy" of those who had been "forced to flee their country and seek shelter far from home".

From BBC • Jun. 17, 2022

He feared his heirs might become "unutterable snobs."

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2021

To my mind, these experiences rub our faces in the unutterable weirdness of existence, which transcends all our knowledge and forms of expression.

From Scientific American • Jun. 25, 2021

Then silence, a very long silence, and—wait, shhhhh...yes!—the unutterable relief of realizing that the bear has withdrawn to the other side of the camp or shambled back into the woods.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson