unutterable

[ uhn-uht-er-uh-buhl ]

adjective

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

   unutterable joy.

2. not utterable; not pronounceable:

   an unutterable foreign word.

unutterable

/ ʌnˈʌtərəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being expressed in words

Derived Forms

• unˈutterableness, noun
• unˈutterably, adverb

Other Words From

• un·utter·a·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of unutterable¹

1580–90; un- ¹ + utterable ( def )

Example Sentences

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

The idea of a geopolitically autonomous Europe acting independently of the United States — a vision historically dear to the French — is rapidly becoming unutterable.

From New York Times

He feared his heirs might become "unutterable snobs."

From Salon

The whole scene was an unutterable mixture of comedy and pathos.

From Literature

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