Inenarrable

//ɪnɪˈnæɹəb(ə)l// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    That cannot be told; indescribable, inexpressible, unspeakable. formal, literary

    "For where almyghty god is reſydent all thynges be good, whoſe goodnes is inenarrable and euerlaſtynge."

Example

More examples

"For where almyghty god is reſydent all thynges be good, whoſe goodnes is inenarrable and euerlaſtynge."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from French inénarrable, from Latin inēnārrābilis (“indescribable”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + ēnārrābilis (“describable, explainable”). Ēnārrābilis is derived from ēnārrāre + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon); ēnārrāre is the present active infinitive of ēnārrō (“to explain in detail, expound”), from ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out; thoroughly’)) + narrō (“to say; to relate, tell; to describe; to recount, report”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”)). The English word is analysable as in- + enarrable. Compare ignorant and -able for the components.

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