inexpressible means unable to be expressed; not able to be put into words.
Why “inexpressible” is a great word
Unable to be expressed or described in words. From the English prefix in- ("not") + expressible ("able to be expressed"), first recorded in use between 1615 and 1625. Unlike "ineffable" (which implies something too sacred or awesome to be spoken) or "unspeakable" (which suggests something too horrific or vile to be uttered), "inexpressible" is a quieter, more neutral admission of failure. It is the particular weight of grief that settles behind the sternum after a telephone call in the small hours, the vertigo of standing before a Rothko and feeling color displace thought entirely, or the precise texture of love in its earliest days when naming it would be like pinning a butterfly still wet from the chrysalis—the humble frontier where feeling persists, and speech simply ends.
adj
- Unable to be expressed; not able to be put into words.e.g.“She felt inexpressible contempt for her attackers.”
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