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
-
Spike’s carry such a unique and indescribable feeling.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
15 Aug. 2025
-
It’s been such a privilege to compete here, and to be in the final is just indescribable.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
The future is unknowable, but it is guaranteed to bring more hurricanes and other large-scale challenges that must be met collectively.—
Chloe Demrovsky,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
-
The consequences of the AI boom are likely irreversible, and the future is certainly unknowable.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
And the book’s bracingly straightforward descriptions of often inexplicable behaviors and thought processes, become the hard, stark edges of a sculptural black-and-white photography that is all the more mysterious for apparently having nothing to hide.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The Saints' inexplicable decision to trade their entire draft class to select running back Ricky Williams with the fifth pick of the 1999 NFL Draft.—
Matthew Schmidt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
In a free society, the people who enforce the law should never be faceless or unaccountable.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Transparency And Governance Autonomous doesn’t mean unaccountable.—
Abakar Saidov,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The years slowly moved away from us, its silence uncanny, but the smell of carcasses was unfathomable.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The scale of the devastation is unfathomable.—
R. Daniel Foster,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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