as in mysterious
impossible to understand
advanced scientific theories of ungraspable complexity for the layperson
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Recent Examples of ungraspable
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
It’s a megagenre, something the poet-philosopher Timothy Morton might call a hyperobject, ungraspable in its ubiquity and scale.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022
The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him.
—Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
The ecological relationships that Darwin brings to our attention tell us of a world of bonds much more complex and ungraspable than had ever previously been supposed.
—Longreads, 23 Mar. 2021
The Internet of Things is an ungraspable future, particularly when the fact of a future for Earth at all sometimes sounds implausible.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 14 May 2020
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
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
It’s a megagenre, something the poet-philosopher Timothy Morton might call a hyperobject, ungraspable in its ubiquity and scale.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022
The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him.
—Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
The ecological relationships that Darwin brings to our attention tell us of a world of bonds much more complex and ungraspable than had ever previously been supposed.
—Longreads, 23 Mar. 2021
The Internet of Things is an ungraspable future, particularly when the fact of a future for Earth at all sometimes sounds implausible.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 14 May 2020
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
Adjective
-
With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Beyond this, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-Ray observatory also studied this spiral galaxy repeatedly and found mysterious regions known as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs).—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In fact, the movie isn’t really scary at all — just extremely weird, as well as increasingly incomprehensible toward the end.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Then there’s an incomprehensible scene in which Stuhlbarg’s Frederik storms in and out of the kitchen angrily, having turned his music up to an unlistenable volume, while Alma and Maggie—a guest in their home that evening—try to have a serious conversation.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
For a disaster so vast and so unfathomable, some sort of grounding feels necessary, some little point to hold on to, some faces to remember, but even the actual story of the bus and its temporary inhabitants feels a touch too small for the grand scale Greengrass is working on here.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
6 Sep. 2025
-
And the way that people marginalize and attack the Trans community, especially politically, is unfathomable to me, and so unbearably cruel.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Of course, the resemblance was uncanny, from their matching smiles to their auburn-red hair, which Julia wore down in loose waves and Emma styled in a messy ponytail.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
11 Sep. 2025
-
The job requires an uncanny ability to sell each bit of incremental progress as a success in and of itself.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
However, audio quality can make or break social media content and while some people can tolerate less-than-perfect video, poor and unintelligible sound often has audiences swiping left.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
-
Airports and airplanes do not have a monopoly on unintelligible announcements.—
Michel A. Ibrahim,
Baltimore Sun,
22 June 2025
Adjective
-
Beyond that, however, pollen’s seemingly impenetrable shell—made up of the biopolymer sporopollenin—had long stumped researchers and limited its use.—
Sandy Ong,
JSTOR Daily,
11 Sep. 2025
-
With time, trees even grew in the impenetrable ditch.—
Steven Franck,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Unfortunately, tenure, even in the best schools, gets rewarded to professors who write articles filled with complex math or esoteric theories in sociology and psychology.—
Shivaram Rajgopal,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
-
While the syntax of esoteric languages may be hard to understand, the actual programming stack is often wonderfully simple.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
And determining when someone is dead is the critical but confusing question at play.—
Cara Anthony,
CNN Money,
11 Sep. 2025
-
For example, the eye glass space was largely fractured, confusing, and not customer-friendly before Warby Parker entered the scene with exceptional client experience, a focus on customer service and convenience, and a user-friendly product.—
Brandon Aversano,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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