as in incredible
beyond the power to describe
an ineffable beauty descends upon the canyon as the sun begins to set
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ineffable
If anything, ChatGPT-3 has something of the oracular about it; for as mysterious as the writing process of any author may be in all sorts of intangible and ineffable ways, any person who works in words also understands what’s prosaic and gritty (and thus all the more beautiful) about writing.
—
Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
The film draws power from the subtle specificity; Børsum’s voice, low and knowing, comes suffused with an ineffable meaning.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
Some of those moms include the terrific performers Cindy Cheung and Liz Wisan, and the play itself promises satire, songs, bouffon, bodily fluids, and, underneath it all, a contemplation of overwhelming joy and ineffable heartache.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
One reason medieval mystics resorted to apophatic language was to suggest the ineffable majesty of God, the God beyond God.
—Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ineffable
Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
The film draws power from the subtle specificity; Børsum’s voice, low and knowing, comes suffused with an ineffable meaning.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
Some of those moms include the terrific performers Cindy Cheung and Liz Wisan, and the play itself promises satire, songs, bouffon, bodily fluids, and, underneath it all, a contemplation of overwhelming joy and ineffable heartache.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
One reason medieval mystics resorted to apophatic language was to suggest the ineffable majesty of God, the God beyond God.
—Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ineffable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ineffable
Adjective
-
Well, the Santana band of course was just incredible.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
8 Mar. 2026
-
They are known for their incredible kindness and hospitality, which says a lot given the centrality of hospitality to Iranian culture more broadly.—
Talla Mountjoy,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
As del Toro enters the Oscars’ race with one of his best projects to date, the return of the feature that founded his filmography serves as a kind of toast to the mastery of art, life, and indescribable spaces between.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
8 Dec. 2025
-
The opportunity to see her mom and each member of her family is indescribable, Joseph said.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
27 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
When the history was available, Morrison was struck that much of it was unspeakable.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
17 Feb. 2026
-
How to say anything about The Changeling without blaspheming its deep mystery, its reverence for the unspeakable, animal heart of creation?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
If everything is systematically interlinked, then life’s transcendent beauty is inextricable from its inexpressible horrors and outright silliness, like the jarring swings between slapstick and tragedy in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.—
Jack Denton,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Instead, there were chuckles to hold back anger and carefully chosen words to express what felt inexpressible.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Our movie tastes are determined by some indefinable electrical current of enthusiasm or joy or deep, radiating sadness, or some combination of the three.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Of course, beauty is subject to taste and culture and all sorts of indefinable things.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Stripped of orchestral arrangement, the emotion in Ross’s voice provokes that unutterable connection that makes singer and listener one in a desire to act in the present for the present.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Dec. 2025
-
Two high voices — LACO features soprano Amanda Forsythe and countertenor John Holiday — intertwine with the orchestra turning this hymn to the Virgin Mary’s suffering into unutterable sweetness and treating death as life’s engenderment.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2024
Adjective
-
And nothing is more isolating, more incommunicable, than the grief of a parent who has been unable to save their child’s life.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
31 Aug. 2022
-
In a way, Tiffany’s rendering of fandom as specific and incommunicable risks undermining her premise, which has to do with the massed power of people online.—
Katy Waldman,
The New Yorker,
28 June 2022
Cite this Entry
“Ineffable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ineffable. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
