inexpressibleadj.n.
/ɪnɛkˈsprɛsɪb(ə)l/ A. adj.
That cannot be expressed in words; unutterable, unspeakable, indescribable. (Often as an emotional intensive: cf. ineffable adj. 1.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [adjective]
unsayinglyOE
wordlessa1200
unanemneda1225
unspeaking1340
untellablea1382
unenarrable1382
unspeakablea1400
ineffablec1450
inenarrablec1450
indicible1480
enarrable1482
inexplicable1502
inspeakable?1504
innominable1532
unoutspeakable1535
unexpressable1548
innarrable1554
inpronunciable1554
uncommunicable1555
inexprimablea1577
unexpressiblea1586
unutterablea1586
expressless1590
nameless1597
recountless1601
inutterable1603
indeclarable1610
unnameable1610
unreportable1611
speakless1612
unexpressivea1616
inexpressiblea1631
utterless1643
inexpressive1652
unwordablec1660
incommunicable1694
paintless1729
descriptionless1749
undelineable1767
describeless1799
indefinable1810
undescribable1818
unqualifiable1822
untelling1823
utterless1832
unpindownable1915
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very great > and indescribable
untalelyc1225
unspeaking1340
unsayingc1350
untellablea1382
unspeakablea1400
ineffablec1450
unrehearsable1513
unutterablea1586
unrelatable1621
inexpressiblea1631
inexpressive1652
undescribable1728
indescribable1785
untelling1823
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1953) VI. 335 Thou shalt feele the ioy of his third birth in thy soul, most inexpressible this day.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 113 Ere mid-day arriv'd In Eden, distance inexpressible By Numbers that have name. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 160. ¶8 I gazed with inexpressible Pleasure on these happy Islands.
1801 M. Edgeworth Prussian Vase in Moral Tales III. 37 It is with inexpressible concern, that I find myself called upon..to be the accuser of any man.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiii. 166 Its seclusion gives it an inexpressible charm.
B. n.
1. Something inexpressible. (In quot. 1846 with punning allusion to next sense.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [noun] > instance of
inexpressible1652
je ne sais quoi1656
unutterable thingsa1711
unutterable1788
unutterability1837
indefinableness1889
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila ii. vi. 24 Praise best doth Inexpressibles expresse.
1846 C. G. F. Gore Sketches Eng. Char. I. 163 A pair of standard footmen seems to be the real pair of inexpressibles.
2. plural (colloquial). Breeches or trousers. (Originally euphemistic: cf. ineffables (ineffable n. 1), inexplicables (inexplicable n. 2), unmentionables (unmentionable n. 1a).)
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers
trouse1678
trousers1681
kicks1699
trousiesa1713
brogues1748
inexpressibles1790
unmentionable1791
et cetera1794
indescribable1794
kickseys1819
ineffables1823
indispensablesa1828
unimaginable1833
pantaloon1834
pants1835
inexplicables1836
never-mention-'ems1836
unwhisperable1837
results1839
sit-down-upons1839
sit-upons1839
unmentionabilities1840
innominablea1843
unutterables1843
trews1847
round-the-houses1857
unprintable1860
stovepipe1863
sit-in-ems1873
reach-me-downs1877
strides1889
rounds1893
long1898
kecks1900
rammies1906
trou1911
pants1970
1790 J. Wolcot Rowland for Oliver in Wks. (1795) II. 154 (Farmer) I've heard, that breeches, petticoats, and smock, Give to thy modest mind a grievous shock, And that thy brain (so lucky its device) Christ'neth them inexpressibles, so nice.
1793 E. Gibbon Let. 11 Nov. (1956) III. 359 Have you never observed through my inexpressibles a large prominency circa genitalia.
1800 Helen Bedingfeld in Jerningham Lett. (1896) I. 196 A pair of old inexpressibles..contained seven thousand Guineas!..deposited in so vulgar a Garment.
1809 Farmer's Mag. Dec. 500 A fine lady can talk about her lover's inexpressibles, when she would faint to hear of his breeches.
1875 Spectator (Melbourne) 12 June 64/1 The episcopal inexpressibles..for obvious reasons will be unsuited to lay legs.
Derivatives
inexpressiˈbility n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [noun]
unspeakablenessa1586
incommunicableness1615
ineffability1629
incommunicability1640
unexpressibleness1652
ineffableness1681
unutterableness1681
inexpressibleness1727
unexpressibility1817
indescribability1824
inexpressibility1826
unspeakability1845
unnameability1862
indescribableness1880
1826 T. De Quincey Gallery German Prose Classics: Lessing in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 736/1 I do not admit the inexpressibility of paternal grief.
inexˈpressibleness n. the quality of being inexpressible.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [noun]
unspeakablenessa1586
incommunicableness1615
ineffability1629
incommunicability1640
unexpressibleness1652
ineffableness1681
unutterableness1681
inexpressibleness1727
unexpressibility1817
indescribability1824
inexpressibility1826
unspeakability1845
unnameability1862
indescribableness1880
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Inexpressibleness.
1870 C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David I. Ps. xxi. 1 Our joy should have some sort of inexpressibleness in it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adj.n.a1631