Ineffable
adjective
Too great, deep, or beautiful to describe in words.
The view from the mountain top was simply ineffable.
Often appears as...
- ineffable beauty
- ineffable joy
adjective
Not to be spoken of or expressed.
Some feelings are simply ineffable and should remain unspoken.
Often appears as...
- ineffable silence
- ineffable sorrow
adjective
Too great, deep, or beautiful to describe in words.
The view from the mountain top was simply ineffable.
Often appears as...
- ineffable beauty
- ineffable joy
adjective
Not to be spoken of or expressed.
Some feelings are simply ineffable and should remain unspoken.
Often appears as...
- ineffable silence
- ineffable sorrow
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Profound Impact
Use 'ineffable' when something moves you deeply and words fall short.
Her performance was met with ineffable admiration from the audience.
Pro Tip 2/3Positive Beauty
'Ineffable' often ties to beauty or awe—things that overwhelm us positively.
The ineffable charm of the old village captivated every visitor.
Pro Tip 3/3Gravitational Moments
Use in moments of gravity when feelings or experiences are beyond words.
At the birth of their child, they shared an ineffable bond.
Pro Tip 1/3Profound Impact
Use 'ineffable' when something moves you deeply and words fall short.
Her performance was met with ineffable admiration from the audience.
Pro Tip 2/3Positive Beauty
'Ineffable' often ties to beauty or awe—things that overwhelm us positively.
The ineffable charm of the old village captivated every visitor.
Pro Tip 3/3Gravitational Moments
Use in moments of gravity when feelings or experiences are beyond words.
At the birth of their child, they shared an ineffable bond.
Pro Tip 1/3Profound Impact
Use 'ineffable' when something moves you deeply and words fall short.
Her performance was met with ineffable admiration from the audience.
Pro Tip 2/3Positive Beauty
'Ineffable' often ties to beauty or awe—things that overwhelm us positively.
The ineffable charm of the old village captivated every visitor.
Pro Tip 3/3Gravitational Moments
Use in moments of gravity when feelings or experiences are beyond words.
At the birth of their child, they shared an ineffable bond.
Compare with
comprehensibleimmeasurableindescribableinexpressibletranscendentunspeakableunutterable
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Video examples
Mary's Room: A...
but still not understand what it feels like to be that person. These ineffable experiences have properties called qualia, subjective qualities that you can't accurately describe or measure. Qualia are unique to the person experiencing them, like having an itch, being in love,
Video examples
Jason Silva's Origin...
And so the more complex, sublime, beautiful, and ineffable an experience, the more I want to try and make a piece of content about what that is. It's me in a way having a creative battle against ineffability. It's like the universe is saying you cannot explain me.
Video examples
How do you build a...
You know, you aspire for beauty, for sensuousness, for atmosphere, the emotional response. That's the realm of the ineffable and the immeasurable.
Video examples
Mary's Room: A...
but still not understand what it feels like to be that person. These ineffable experiences have properties called qualia, subjective qualities that you can't accurately describe or measure. Qualia are unique to the person experiencing them, like having an itch, being in love,
Video examples
Jason Silva's Origin...
And so the more complex, sublime, beautiful, and ineffable an experience, the more I want to try and make a piece of content about what that is. It's me in a way having a creative battle against ineffability. It's like the universe is saying you cannot explain me.
Video examples
How do you build a...
You know, you aspire for beauty, for sensuousness, for atmosphere, the emotional response. That's the realm of the ineffable and the immeasurable.
Example 1 of 3
Quote examples
Eliot Schrefer
American Author
Anguish over the loss of a loved one or feelings of helplessness have complex roots. But in the end, they make you feel bad because they adjust your brain's chemistry. Happiness and its opposite are both electro-chemical reactions; those reactions are temporary and ineffable and could even have hidden benefits.
Quote examples
Lucy Larcom
American Poet
From the first opening of our eyes, it is the light that attracts us. We clutch aimlessly with our baby fingers at the gossamer-motes in the sunbeam, and we die reaching out after an ineffable blending of earthly and heavenly beauty which we shall never fully comprehend.
Quote examples
Ben Marcus
American Author
In certain strains of Judaism, there's a profound passion for the ineffable. Contemplation of God is meant to be forever elusive, because, you know, our tiny minds can't possibly comprehend Him. If we find ourselves comprehending Him, then we can be sure we're off track.
Quote examples
Sri Aurobindo
Indian Philosopher
She saw the myriad gods, and beyond God his own ineffable eternity; she saw that there were ranges of life beyond our present life, ranges of mind beyond our present mind and above these she saw the splendors of the spirit.
Quote examples
Hannah Kent
Australian Writer
I have a deep and ongoing love of Iceland, particular the landscape, and when writing 'Burial Rites,' I was constantly trying to see whether I could distill its extraordinary and ineffable qualities into a kind of poetry.
Quote examples
Anita Brookner
English Historian
People say that I am always serious and depressing, but it seems to me that the English are never serious - they are flippant, complacent, ineffable, but never serious, which is sometimes maddening.
Quote examples
Maggie Rowe
American Comedian
My spiritual evolution I would describe as journey from literalism to figuratism. I now see all religious texts as pointing to an ineffable truth.
Quote examples
Jimmy Chin
American Athlete
As a professional climber, that's the question you always get: Why, why, why? It's an ineffable thing; you can't describe it.
Quote examples
Elbert Hubbard
American Writer
The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.
Quote examples
James Lapine
American Director
That's the thing about dreams - they're ineffable. If you can get to the bottom of it, it's not a dream.
Quote examples
Eliot Schrefer
American Author
Anguish over the loss of a loved one or feelings of helplessness have complex roots. But in the end, they make you feel bad because they adjust your brain's chemistry. Happiness and its opposite are both electro-chemical reactions; those reactions are temporary and ineffable and could even have hidden benefits.
Quote examples
Lucy Larcom
American Poet
From the first opening of our eyes, it is the light that attracts us. We clutch aimlessly with our baby fingers at the gossamer-motes in the sunbeam, and we die reaching out after an ineffable blending of earthly and heavenly beauty which we shall never fully comprehend.
Quote examples
Ben Marcus
American Author
In certain strains of Judaism, there's a profound passion for the ineffable. Contemplation of God is meant to be forever elusive, because, you know, our tiny minds can't possibly comprehend Him. If we find ourselves comprehending Him, then we can be sure we're off track.
Quote examples
Sri Aurobindo
Indian Philosopher
She saw the myriad gods, and beyond God his own ineffable eternity; she saw that there were ranges of life beyond our present life, ranges of mind beyond our present mind and above these she saw the splendors of the spirit.
Quote examples
Hannah Kent
Australian Writer
I have a deep and ongoing love of Iceland, particular the landscape, and when writing 'Burial Rites,' I was constantly trying to see whether I could distill its extraordinary and ineffable qualities into a kind of poetry.
Quote examples
Anita Brookner
English Historian
People say that I am always serious and depressing, but it seems to me that the English are never serious - they are flippant, complacent, ineffable, but never serious, which is sometimes maddening.
Quote examples
Maggie Rowe
American Comedian
My spiritual evolution I would describe as journey from literalism to figuratism. I now see all religious texts as pointing to an ineffable truth.
Quote examples
Jimmy Chin
American Athlete
As a professional climber, that's the question you always get: Why, why, why? It's an ineffable thing; you can't describe it.
Quote examples
Elbert Hubbard
American Writer
The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.
Quote examples
James Lapine
American Director
That's the thing about dreams - they're ineffable. If you can get to the bottom of it, it's not a dream.
Example 1 of 10
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