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ungraspable

adjective

ˌən-ˈgra-spə-bəl How to pronounce ungraspable (audio)
Definition of ungraspablenext
as in incomprehensible
impossible to understand advanced scientific theories of ungraspable complexity for the layperson

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 ungraspable What looked readable from above becomes ungraspable at ground level. — Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2026 This is an ungraspable tragedy and loss. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Apr. 2026 To me, the self becomes a shifting monument, a territoire in perpetual metamorphosis, alive, fluid, and ungraspable. — Mame-Diarra Niang, Artforum, 2 Nov. 2025 Its scope is gargantuan and ungraspable, and as such, the appropriate level of grief does not seem human in scale. — Literary Hub, 21 July 2025 Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire. — Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025 One gazes into the geographical expanse of this place to try to grasp the ungraspable scale of things. — Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 5 Jan. 2023 The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him. — Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021 Eraserhead was so ungraspable, so far into left field, that most critics dismissed it at the time. — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungraspable
  1. incomprehensible
  2. mysterious
  3. unfathomable
  4. uncanny
  5. unintelligible
  6. impenetrable
  7. esoteric
  8. confusing
Adjective
  • The Music City Miracle now has a rival after Vanderbilt's improbable, and frankly incomprehensible, last-second victory against NC State on Saturday afternoon.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026
  • This city is already a freaky liminal space full of snaking pathways that are almost incomprehensible.
    — Jordan Minor, PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of incomprehensible
Adjective
  • Afterward, guests made their way up to Shishi, tucked away on the third floor with a mysterious entrance.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026
  • There’s a guy who wound up dying under mysterious circumstances that makes up part of him.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of mysterious
Adjective
  • Hasan deftly handles political seriousness and an unfathomable history and present of war and punitive state violence against Palestinians.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Dolphins fandom has been a miserable existence for more than a quarter century now, and for reasons that extend well beyond the unfathomable 25-year playoff victory drought in a league that prioritizes parity.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of unfathomable
Adjective
  • Their resemblance is uncanny; near carbon copies, some thirty years apart.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Images often associated with barbarism on screen, like beheading the dead to memorialize them, are approached with an uncanny gentleness.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of uncanny
Adjective
  • Then Mikayla makes an almost unintelligible crack about Doug, which sends Taylor back into a rage spiral.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Assuming viewers understood the history of English soccer — or even the offside rule — could make the broadcasts unintelligible for new fans who understood neither.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of unintelligible
Adjective
  • Though Best Original Song can seem impenetrable, as the Music Branch that determines the shortlist and nominees for the category has its own insular politics, Swift has inched her way closer to a nomination with every song she’s written for a film.
    — Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Director Padraic McKinley’s debut feature stars Ethan Hawke as a battle-scarred veteran hired to smuggle a fortune in gold across 100 miles of impenetrable wilderness.
    — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of impenetrable
Adjective
  • Their job is to reduce the world to a series of numbers that can be punched into increasingly complex statistical equations and published in esoteric journals with high barriers to entry and minuscule readerships.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Another challenge is that though the Langlands program is sweeping and unifying, the mathematical correspondences themselves are excruciatingly specific and esoteric.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of esoteric
Adjective
  • Trotting out this try-hard trifecta of confusing, uninspired installments in a year that’s seen so many entertaining, thought-provoking additions to the horror genre?
    — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2026
  • The ratings follows another tempest-in-a-teapot bit of You Can See Everything news on Thursday when a typo in the film’s official trailer went viral, with fans becoming convinced the confusing-looking error was intentional — until A24 fixed it.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of confusing

Browse Nearby Words

ungrammatical
ungraspable
ungrateful
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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