Ineffable

//ɪˈnɛf.ə.bəl// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Beyond expression in words; unspeakable. not-comparable

    "Devotion bids aspire to nobler things, to boundless love, and joys ineffable: and such her expectation from kind Heav'n."

  2. 2
    Forbidden to be uttered; taboo. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    defying expression or description wordnet
  2. 2
    too sacred to be uttered wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
indescribableunnameableunspeakableunutterableabstractabstruse

Example

More examples

"Even at a distance I could smell her sweet perfume, feel her tender warm touch, bathe in the ineffable light of those beautiful luring green eyes."

Etymology

From Middle French ineffable (modern French ineffable), from Latin ineffābilis, from in- (“not”) + effor (“utter”) + -bilis (“-able”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.