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unspeakable Definition

un·speak·able (-spēkə bəl)

adjective

  1. that cannot be spoken
  2. marvelous, awesome, etc.; beyond human expression; ineffable
    1. so bad, evil, etc. as to defy description
    2. so foul, evil, etc. as to be unfit to be described or discussed unspeakable depravity

  • unspecialized
  • unspecific
  • unspecified
  • unspectacular
  • unspeculative
  • unspent
unspeakable Related Forms
un·speak·ably adverb
unspeakable Synonyms

unspeakable

modif.

marvelous, awesome, horrid, unutterable, abominable, horrible, fearful, inexpressible, ineffable, unimaginable, dreadful, dire, shocking, appalling, frightful, frightening, alarming, preternatural, beastly, inhuman, calamitous; see also supernatural.

unspeakable Usage Examples

Used with adjective complement

  • remain: Although the word remains unspeakable, the Western intelligentsia, conservatives and liberals alike, boldly echo the preferred euphemism, " civilization " .

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • do: There was even a mermaid doing something unspeakable with a fish finger!
  • have: Why do I have joy unspeakable and full of glory?

Modifies a noun

  • atrocity: How did such a highly cultured people come to commit the unspeakable atrocities of the Third Reich?
  • cruelty: Rape, pillage, burning of homes, unspeakable cruelty to children, to women, to old people.
  • horror: The unspeakable horror which you have endured will, in time, be merely a bad memory.
  • joy: An unspeakable joy filled my heart on the long homeward journey.
  • tragedy: To many of you here, you have indeed been brought up in the very shadow of that unspeakable tragedy.
  • evil: Upon all which intrusions many unspeakable evils did follow.

Modifying Another Word

  • so: But lying in wait is horror so unspeakable it will change them forever!
  • almost: A week from now these men on both sides will be doing almost unspeakable things in order to kill each other.
  • otherwise: At times, this reflection may provide messages perhaps otherwise unspeakable.

Preposition: in

  • pursuit: Wilde is often quoted on the subject: " the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible " .
unspeakable Quotes

Pop art is the inedible raised to the unspeakable. SeeWilde 909:22.

—Baskin, Leonard

The English country gentlemangalloping aftera fox^the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.

—Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'FlahertieWills