unsayable

adjective

Definition of unsayablenext
as in inexpressible

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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 unsayable Well-meaning observers want to split the difference between the sayable and unsayable. — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2026 What the novel is working toward is not the exposure of a violation, let alone the processing of any real-life event, but a recognition of the self—a self who survives the scourges of childhood, and a storytelling-self who learns that fiction can reveal otherwise unsayable truths. — Honor Jones, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026 But Woolf’s broad, sweeping pronouncements about what literature is and isn’t capable of were always meant sarcastically; her life’s work, after all, was to push the boundaries of literature so as to say the unsayable. — Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025 All fair, but an uncomfortable couch and a passion for the art of the unsayable are not reasons enough to kill oneself. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unsayable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsayable
  1. inexpressible
  2. indefinable
  3. indescribable
  4. unknowable
  5. inexplicable
  6. incomprehensible
  7. unaccountable
  8. unfathomable
Adjective
  • The universe of the film, as all of Nolan’s worlds are, is one drawn from the muted colors of reluctant determination and it’s structured by a gravity of inexpressible guilt.
    — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of inexpressible
Adjective
  • Our movie tastes are determined by some indefinable electrical current of enthusiasm or joy or deep, radiating sadness, or some combination of the three.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Of course, beauty is subject to taste and culture and all sorts of indefinable things.
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Definition of indefinable
Adjective
  • Her life and legacy of joy and creativity had an indescribable impact on the world.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The brain-squeezing rush of those starts is nearly indescribable.
    — Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 15 July 2026
Definition of indescribable
Adjective
  • The process gives leaders a way to put some structure around an unknowable future.
    — Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Curiosity about the unknowable begins masquerading as intimacy, and you can be left feeling both heartbroken and filled with self-disgust.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of unknowable
Adjective
  • There’s also a brief and inexplicable detour to Murray Hill and a Williamsburg-y Bushwick loft to remind us of simpler times.
    — Nora DeLigter, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Then again, so is this inexplicable two-and-a-half-year stretch of low-risk, juiceless attacking hockey that Pettersson has just endured.
    — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of inexplicable
Adjective
  • War of the Worlds fuses post-9/11 paranoia and the terror of parenting to create one of Spielberg’s most thrilling blockbusters with a dark, genuinely scary atmosphere of ordinary people being wiped out by incomprehensible tragedy.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Farnaby’s character, a thickly-accented and mostly-incomprehensible farmer, was, of course, called Barry.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of incomprehensible
Adjective
  • The bottom line for now is that the city is allowing the unaccountable operation of thousands of untaxed machines while simultaneously counting on revenue from their VGT and casino competitors.
    — Joe Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
  • This year alone, $5 billion in taxpayer funds will be siphoned away from public schools to prop up Florida’s unaccountable voucher program, diverting dollars from the more than 80% of children who attend public schools.
    — Andrew Spar, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of unaccountable
Adjective
  • On behalf of myself, our staff, and the Board of Directors, we are entirely devastated by this unfathomable loss to Country Music and the entire world.
    — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Building a racetrack in the middle of a city comes with an unfathomable number of logistical challenges.
    — Adam Kilgore, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of unfathomable

Browse Nearby Words

unsay
unsayable
unsaying
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Cite this Entry

“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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