as in inexpressible
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Recent Examples of unsayable
All the secrets pour out, the revelations of infidelity and addiction and so on, as the group gives vent to the stuff that’s previously been unsayable—not to fix anything, mind you, since some things can’t be fixed.
—
Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 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
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
Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 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
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
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
-
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
Adjective
-
So Clark, for whom physical intimacy with Carol is still something of a new adventure, recommends looking out for those little indescribable, unique physical details of a person that enhance presence and attraction.—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
-
And then to be asked to sing my own song with one of my idols is kind of an indescribable feeling.—
Ethan Millman,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In her first interview since the disappearance of her mother, Nancy, between January 31 and February 1, the Today host sat down with Hoda Kotb to discuss the ongoing investigation and her continued resilience in the face of unknowable pain.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Artificial intelligence seems to be reacquainting much of the modern world with a sense of the unknown, perhaps even the unknowable.—
Chandler Fritz,
The New York Review of Books,
21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Research suggests this sudden, inexplicable illness affects women more often than men.—
Lindsay Dodgson,
SELF,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Adapted from Algernon Blackwood’s supernatural novella, The Man Whom the Trees Loved is a ghostly tale of the inexplicable horrors of nature.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Chloe’s arrival felt almost incomprehensible to a couple who once believed parenthood was out of reach.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Mar. 2026
-
The permanent layoff of approximately 300 workers at the Searles Valley Minerals Trona plant will have an incomprehensible impact on our High Desert communities.—
Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh,
Oc Register,
21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Chicago will need a new mayor willing to immediately tackle daunting challenges — a budget bordering on insolvency, nagging neighborhood crime, and a failing education system led by a powerful and unaccountable teachers union.—
Juan Rangel,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
-
If there really was a class of unaccountable, libertine global élites plundering the world, then wasn’t Trump obviously a member?—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
These Chicago scientists and engineers played a critical role in the Manhattan Project, helping develop the atomic bombs that were used to bring about the unfathomable destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.—
Daniel Holz,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
-
The notion of drafting Simpson with the 11th pick is unfathomable.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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