as in inexpressible
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Recent Examples of unsayable
These days the words become real only for the speaker—the air whispers to me—the listener is stealing away,
back to its dark habitat, where all is
unsayable.
—
Jorie Graham, The New York Review of Books, 31 July 2025
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
Jorie Graham, The New York Review of Books, 31 July 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsayable
- inexpressible
- indefinable
- indescribable
- unknowable
- inexplicable
- incomprehensible
- unaccountable
- unfathomable
Adjective
-
Much like the famed British poets of World War I, who sought to express the inexpressible, Abu Toha strives to capture the unspeakable carnage, futility, and despair of war.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
-
Writing gives mothers the space and the time to express the inexpressible, even when the space and time do so are stolen away.—
Alice Vincent,
Vogue,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
For all Sacks’ efforts to remain an indefinable cult figure outside the mainstream, he has lately been caught in Hollywood’s tractor beam, with several film scripts in advanced stages of development.—
Julian Sancton,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Aug. 2025
-
This East Coast city earns high marks year after year for its various dining options, museums, and the indefinable, electric energy of the city that never sleeps.—
Elizabeth Cantrell,
Travel + Leisure,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
The smell after a rain is indescribable.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
-
The scene was terrible, indescribable, a tragedy.—
Jillian Frankel,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The theme was inspired by science and space and the idea of artists exploring the unknown and unknowable.—
La Jolla Light,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Sep. 2025
-
The Great War, however, turned death into something sudden, cruel and unknowable, as young men—often barely into adulthood—were slaughtered on the front line, their deaths reported to their families days or weeks later.—
Alice Vernon
September 8,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The Giants tanked immediately after acquiring a high-profile superstar with a nine-figure contract, which was inexplicable, unexpected and ominous.—
Grant Brisbee,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell committed an inexplicable turnover early in the second half in their loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday evening.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
And the thought of McDavid leaving Edmonton under any condition once felt incomprehensible.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
-
His way through was by finding connection with a character whose deeds seem incomprehensible.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
For some of them, especially those animated by the conviction — not entirely unreasonable — that real power in America lies with shadowy, malevolent and unaccountable forces, the Epstein mythology is too central to their worldview to let go of.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
6 Sep. 2025
-
At this point in its history, the theory goes, the United States requires a willful and largely unaccountable power to impose changes that leaders with more delicate sensibilities and procedural scruples cannot ever accomplish.—
Russell Muirhead,
Foreign Affairs,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
That's unfathomable, that's unacceptable, that's unconscionable, and that's un-American.—
John Parkinson,
ABC News,
30 Sep. 2025
-
The idea of the Tigers making a deep October run would be unprecedented but not unfathomable.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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