ineffable
/ɪnˈɛfəb(ə)l
/adjective
1Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words: the ineffable mysteries of the soul...
- If truth is ineffable, beyond words, we can't determine whether it can be intuited.
- Given the combination of ineffable beauty and extremely unpleasant sensations in my stomach and head, I would be quite content to die here.
- If ‘the world’ is something beyond all description, an ineffable thing-in-itself, no real answer to the question has been given.
Synonyms
inexpressible, indescribable, beyond words, beyond description, beggaring description;
undefinable, unutterable, untold, unheard of, unthought of, unimaginable;
overwhelming, marvellous, wonderful, breathtaking, staggering, astounding, amazing, astonishing, fantastic, fabulous
unutterable, not to be uttered, not to be spoken, not to be said, unmentionable;
taboo, forbidden, off limits, out of bounds
informal no go
1.1Not to be uttered: the ineffable Hebrew name that gentiles write as Jehovah...
- The text makes reference to the Shem haM' phoras, the ineffable, unspeakable Name of God.
- It also aligns to various religions teachings which maintain that the true nature of God is unknowable as his or her or its ineffable name.
- Thus all affirmations about God fall short, and only negations about God are really true: God is invisible, ineffable, beyond our names, beyond our words.
Derivatives
ineffability
/ noun ...- Augustine's strong sense of divine ineffability led him to condemn all attempts to portray the Trinity, even with abstract symbols.
- But he points out that the same ineffability can make musical language politically potent.
- This is my favourite bit of Christianity; its ineffability.
ineffably
/ adverb ...- He said: ‘Lists like this are so ineffably stupid, competitive and whimsical they make me despair.’
- But without looking, touching, and feeling that unique thrill one gets in the presence of something ineffably beautiful and satisfying, they didn't want to.
- The ineffably camp Shaana warned us yoga would be strenuous, and man did he deliver.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin ineffabilis, from in- 'not' + effabilis (see effable).
- non-adaptiveness
- non-addictive
- nonadditive
- nonadditivity
- non-address
- nonadjustable
- non-admissible
- non-admission
- non-adult
- non-affective
- nonage
- nonagenarian
- nonagesimal
- non-aggression
- nonagon
- nonagonal
- non-alcoholic
- non-algorithmic
- non-aligned
- Non-Aligned Movement
- non-aligner
- non-alignment
- non-allelic
- non-allergenic
- non-allergic