as in inexpressible
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Recent Examples of unsayable
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
-
Of course, beauty is subject to taste and culture and all sorts of indefinable things.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
-
But there was something intangible at stake: Momentum, that indefinable quality that can define a playoff run.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
As del Toro enters the Oscars’ race with one of his best projects to date, the return of the feature that founded his filmography serves as a kind of toast to the mastery of art, life, and indescribable spaces between.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
8 Dec. 2025
-
The opportunity to see her mom and each member of her family is indescribable, Joseph said.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
27 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Set in the aftermath of apocalypse, Postscript follows West, who’s been surviving for some time on a yacht with an unknowable Captain off the coast of what turns out to be New England.—
Caroline Carlson,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
-
Mass crises are unforeseen but not unknowable—there is precedent to consult, or at least experts.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
There were undeniably some highlights in the last hour of the ceremony, namely Theron’s inexplicable presence, rapper Ghali and his wonky dove made of dancers, and of course Andrea Bocelli, looking like an extremely suave Bond villain.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Tottenham have this inexplicable knack of bringing the worst out of them.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
For consumers frustrated by disconnected portals, incomprehensible medical jargon and five-minute doctor visits, this feels like a lifeline.—
Sahar Hashmi,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The film deserves an enormous amount of credit for its sound design, which allows Tuason to turn recordings that would be incomprehensible in less capable hands into something that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats for two thirds of a movie.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
25 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Back in the late 1700s, with the demands of a tyrannical and unaccountable king at the front of their minds, the founders built a tariff order aimed at maintaining democratic legitimacy and preventing the concentration of power in a single individual’s hands.—
Kent Jones,
The Conversation,
17 Jan. 2026
-
But in recent filings to state officials, fire victims and consumer advocates say the law has gone too far and made the utilities’ unaccountable for their mistakes, leading to even more fires.—
Melody Petersen,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Many aspects of the story read like a Hollywood script and are unfathomable to the average American.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
-
There’s no way of knowing this frigid February how all these players and coaches will work out, but to get this much done in this short a time certainly shows high-level energy, high-level organization, unfathomable relentlessness.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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