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
-
If everything is systematically interlinked, then life’s transcendent beauty is inextricable from its inexpressible horrors and outright silliness, like the jarring swings between slapstick and tragedy in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.—
Jack Denton,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Instead, there were chuckles to hold back anger and carefully chosen words to express what felt inexpressible.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 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
-
In the final chapter, Heather has the chance to hear from two sisters, Jennie and Lizzy, who suffered indescribable abuse at the hands of their father.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
21 Oct. 2025
-
The grief felt by our entire staff is indescribable.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The Internet couldn’t just be written by random people whose reliability is unknowable, alongside scientific papers beyond the comprehension of laypeople.—
Jimmy Wales,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
-
The art of elusiveness — that quality of unknowable magnetism — has almost vanished.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Usually there is a predictable pattern to the flow of money bet on games around the world, and the people who spend all day monitoring the betting markets develop a feel for when that flow is doing something inexplicable.—
David Hill,
Rolling Stone,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Her initially inexplicable obsession sets the tone for Apple TV’s unusually humane conspiracy thriller.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Characters make incomprehensible choices.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
29 Oct. 2025
-
That would be an almost incomprehensible outcome, given that Mendoza — after graduating from Miami’s Columbus High School — had just one scholarship offer from a major-conference school, and that came from Cal just one day before National Signing Day.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
While our current board is a bit better about this, for most of the last four years, the majority on our school board has been unaccountable and unavailable to the public.—
Grace Tucker,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
15 Oct. 2025
-
Without formal recognition, unregistered unions are not able to collect union dues from members or represent them in disputes, leaving workers legally unprotected and employers unaccountable.—
Sourcing Journal,
Sourcing Journal,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Advisers were on hand to teach them the nuances of the Situation Room and the importance of maintaining calm under unfathomable stress.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
-
That may sound unfathomable to any non-comic reader who watched Steven Yeun's Mark Grayson get bludgeoned, maimed, and nearly disemboweled (sorry, Atom Eve) in an episode-long, cities-spanning fight with Thragg's berzerker warrior, Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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