as in inexpressible
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Recent Examples of unsayable
Hordes of us are out there hoping to say the unsayable.
—
Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
The tennis-ball POV from Challengers, Isabelle Huppert’s cat with the unknowable and unsayable name, the children dressed as Serge Gainsbourg on French TV.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024
And the true heroes, consequently, are those who dare to say the unsayable.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2024
This was a composer tasked with saying the unsayable against the unspeakable.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
American literature took a while to say the unsayable.
—S. C. Cornell, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2023
With remarkable speed, however, the unsayable has become close to conventional wisdom.
—Michael Barnett, Foreign Affairs, 14 Apr. 2023
One senses that there’s an unsayable aspect to it.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 12 Oct. 2020
And thus stand up for the subconscious, for the unsaid and unsayable, for the historically and personally indigestible, for the unprettified, for the autonomy of an imagination that cannot escape history, and—more than anything else—for black freedom of expression itself.
—Zadie Smith, The New York Review of Books, 27 Feb. 2020
Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
The tennis-ball POV from Challengers, Isabelle Huppert’s cat with the unknowable and unsayable name, the children dressed as Serge Gainsbourg on French TV.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024
And the true heroes, consequently, are those who dare to say the unsayable.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2024
This was a composer tasked with saying the unsayable against the unspeakable.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
American literature took a while to say the unsayable.
—S. C. Cornell, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2023
With remarkable speed, however, the unsayable has become close to conventional wisdom.
—Michael Barnett, Foreign Affairs, 14 Apr. 2023
One senses that there’s an unsayable aspect to it.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 12 Oct. 2020
And thus stand up for the subconscious, for the unsaid and unsayable, for the historically and personally indigestible, for the unprettified, for the autonomy of an imagination that cannot escape history, and—more than anything else—for black freedom of expression itself.
—Zadie Smith, The New York Review of Books, 27 Feb. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsayable
- inexpressible
- indefinable
- indescribable
- unknowable
- inexplicable
- incomprehensible
- unaccountable
- unfathomable
Adjective
-
Historians are struggling to recover their inexpressible secrets.—
Erin Maglaque,
The New York Review of Books,
15 Nov. 2024
-
Historians are struggling to recover their inexpressible secrets.—
Erin Maglaque,
The New York Review of Books,
15 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Her work often explores indefinable experiences and emotions, intimacy, connection, and the body’s relationship to nature.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2025
-
An indefinable musical by a French auteur is headed for millions of streaming subscribers.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
No matter how much authenticity a film production strives for in a Holocaust drama, the end product will never fully capture the indescribable horrors of the Nazi effort to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population during World War II.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025
-
Changes in estrogen levels during these times can lead to a host of symptoms that could contribute to an indescribable burning sensation.—
Cheyenne Buckingham,
SELF,
13 May 2025
Adjective
-
To Vulcan, avoiding unknowable businesses isn’t being conservative.—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
-
At the heart of every biography, though, lies a lacuna—something unknowable, no matter how candid or heavily documented the subject, no matter how familiar or diligent the biographer.—
Casey Cep,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Popular enough where Reacher is currently the #1 show a full month and a half after season 3 ended, and slid down the list eventually before this inexplicable resurgence.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
-
Bebe Zahara Benet delivered pure magic (with a dose of madness) in her inexplicable yet massively memorable and instantly meme-able verse.—
Barry Levitt,
Vulture,
12 May 2025
Adjective
-
Given the incomprehensible thought of an empty beach on the island of Hawaii (and nationwide), surely the movie's effect on viewers was impactful.—
Skyler Caruso,
People.com,
16 May 2025
-
Honestly, whoever designed this mind-numbing, incomprehensible plan should be banished to an island where they will hopefully be devoured by wildlife.—
Inga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 May 2025
Adjective
-
MACs serve as an unaccountable middleman between patients and doctors, driving up costs and worsening patient outcomes.—
Steve Forbes,
Forbes.com,
5 May 2025
-
Unfortunately, the experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars—and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support—has plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Zendaya is something of a style icon, known for her bold, distinctive outfits, but TikTokers reckon that the Dune star is hiding an unfathomable secret inside her oversized hat.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
6 May 2025
-
The expansion of the loophole for tariff-free shipments of goods nearly a decade ago gave rise to Temu, Shein and other low-cost online retailers offering items straight from Chinese factories at unfathomable discounts.—
Daisuke Wakabayashi,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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