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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
  • Life unfolds over an incomprehensible span of scales, from our planet-enveloping biosphere at one end, to individual cell-building biomolecules at the other.
    — Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 23 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of incomprehensible
Adjective
  • Jesse Plemons is superb as his mysterious Kenny becomes a key player in all this, and there is also exemplary work from Emma D’Arcy as Lina, Digger’s ever-faithful assistant, and Sophie Wilde who watches over the action with a keen eye.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2026
  • But key details of this profound primordial transition, such as its threshold energy and density, have remained deeply mysterious.
    — Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of mysterious
Adjective
  • The masked suspect who fatally shot a beloved barber while trying to steal his handmade Miami Cuban bracelet outside a Queens strip club ran off empty-handed, but left those who knew the victim with an unfathomable hole in their hearts.
    — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • A lot like his unfathomable eternity with the Royals, a job that he somehow was offered as a 25-year-old in 1969 with scant experience.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of unfathomable
Adjective
  • Phoebe Bridgers, in her first film role, pulls off an uncanny transformation as a decoy who bends lines of age and gender.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
  • One of Mahomes’ many uncanny traits is that this traction and momentum will only feed off itself.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 24 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
  • But then Mehmet is let go from his job teaching esoteric music practices to university students and the household’s sole steady source of income is gone.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Some say the public backlash to AI, and OpenAI, is partly because messaging from the leading labs can be esoteric, rather than grounded in the day-to-day benefits of AI, and in some cases, downright frightening.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 23 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
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Cite this Entry

“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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