indescribable

English

Etymology

From in- +‎ describe +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪndɪˈskɹaɪbəbl̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧de‧scri‧ba‧ble

Adjective

indescribable (comparative more indescribable, superlative most indescribable)

1. Impossible (or very difficult) to describe.

   He proved it with indescribable mathematics.

   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     Presently the men set up the melancholy little chant that I had heard on the first night when we were captured in the whaleboat, and the effect produced by their voices was very curious, and quite indescribable.

   • 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale, London: Methuen & Co., […], published 1907, →OCLC; The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1907, →OCLC, page 15:

     But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: [...] the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; [...]

2. Exceeding all description.

   Our hotel had an indescribable view of the Bay of Naples.

   • 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XIV, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 182:

     The time was when, had such an idea entered her mind, it would have been torture indescribable and agony the most intense; but then, subdued as was the usual warmth of her temperament, an awful suspension seemed to hold her feelings in control.

Synonyms

• undescribable
• ineffable
• See also Thesaurus:indescribable

Antonyms

• describable

Related terms

• indescribability
• indescribably

Translations

impossible, or very difficult to describe

• Armenian: աննկարագրելի (hy) (annkaragreli)
• Belarusian: неапіса́льны (njeapisálʹny), невыка́зны (njevykázny)
• Bulgarian: неописуем (bg) (neopisuem)
• Catalan: indescriptible
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無法形容／无法形容 (zh) (wúfǎ xíngróng), 不可名狀／不可名状 (zh) (bùkěmíngzhuàng)

• Czech: nepopsatelný
• Dutch: onbeschrijfelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: nepriskribebla
• Finnish: sanoin kuvaamaton (fi), kuvaamaton
• French: indescriptible (fr)
• Galician: indescritíbel (gl)
• German: unbeschreiblich (de)
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻𐍉𐌸𐍃 (unusspillōþs)
• Greek: ανεκδιήγητος (el) (anekdiígitos), απερίγραπτος (el) (aperígraptos), αχαρακτήριστος (el) (acharaktíristos), αδιήγητος (el) (adiígitos)

  Ancient: ἀνεκδιήγητος (anekdiḗgētos)

• Japanese: 言い表わせない (いいあらわせない, iiarawasenai)
• Latin: inēnarrābilis
• Manx: neufocklagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ubeskrivelig

  Nynorsk: ubeskriveleg

• Polish: nieopisany (pl)
• Portuguese: indescritível (pt)
• Romanian: indescriptibil (ro), inexprimabil (ro), de nedescris
• Russian: неопису́емый (ru) (neopisújemyj), несказа́нный (ru) (neskazánnyj), невырази́мый (ru) (nevyrazímyj)
• Spanish: indescriptible (es)
• Swedish: obeskrivlig (sv)
• Turkish: tarifsiz (tr), tarif edilemez
• Ukrainian: неопи́саний (neopýsanyj), невимо́вний (nevymóvnyj), несказа́нний (neskazánnyj)

exceeding all description

• Catalan: indescriptible
• Czech: nepopsatelný
• Dutch: onbeschrijfelijk (nl)
• Finnish: sanoin kuvaamaton (fi), kuvaamaton
• French: indescriptible (fr)
• Galician: indescritíbel (gl)
• German: unbeschreiblich (de)
• Polish: nieopisywalny (pl)
• Portuguese: indescritível (pt)
• Romanian: indescriptibil (ro)
• Russian: неопису́емый (ru) (neopisújemyj)

See also

• unspeakable

Further reading

• “indescribable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “indescribable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.