adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A word or phrase that is impossible to translate satisfactorily from one language to another.

Adjective

1. 1
   Not able to be translated.

   "They referred to de Gaulle as a chienlit, a totally untranslatable term that suggests defecation in bed."

Adjective

1. 1
   not capable of being put into another form or style or language wordnet

Antonyms

All antonyms

translatable

Example

More examples

"Well, that's pretty untranslatable, isn't it?"

Etymology

From un- + translatable.

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