Adjacent Words

Ineffable definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INEF'FABLE, a. [L. ineffabilis; in and effabilis, from effor, to speak.] Unspeakable; unutterable; that cannot be expressed in words; usually in a good sense; as the ineffable joys of heaven; the ineffable glories of the Deity.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: defying expression or description; "indefinable yearnings"; "indescribable beauty"; "ineffable ecstasy"; "inexpressible anguish"; "unspeakable happiness"; "unutterable contempt"; "a thing of untellable splendor" [syn: indefinable, indescribable, ineffable, unspeakable, untellable, unutterable]
2: too sacred to be uttered; "the ineffable name of the Deity" [syn: ineffable, unnameable, unspeakable, unutterable]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin ineffabilis, from in- + effabilis capable of being expressed, from effari to speak out, from ex- + fari to speak — more at ban Date: 14th century 1. a. incapable of being expressed in words ; indescribable <ineffable joy> b. unspeakable <ineffable disgust> 2. not to be uttered ; taboo <the ineffable name of Jehovah> • ineffability noun • ineffableness noun • ineffably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 unutterable; too great for description in words. 2 that must not be uttered. Derivatives: ineffability n. ineffably adv. Etymology: ME f. OF ineffable or L ineffabilis (as IN-(1), effari speak out, utter)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ineffable In*ef"fa*ble, a. [L. ineffabilis: cf. F. ineffable. See In- not, and Effable, Fame.] Incapable of being expresses in words; unspeakable; unutterable; indescribable; as, the ineffable joys of heaven. Contentment with our lot . . . will diffuse ineffable contentment over the soul. --Beattie.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

You use ineffable to say that something is so great or extreme that it cannot be described in words. (FORMAL) ...the ineffable sadness of many of the portraits. = indescribable ADJ: usu ADJ n • ineffably ...his ineffably powerful brain. ADV: usu ADV adj

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Unspeakable, unutterable, inexpressible, indescribable, that cannot be spoken, beyond expression.

Moby Thesaurus

abstract, awesome, awful, celestial, divine, empyreal, empyrean, ethereal, exceptional, extraordinary, fabulous, heavenly, holy, ideal, incommunicable, indefinable, indescribable, inenarrable, inexpressible, innominable, inviolable, inviolate, legendary, marvelous, mythical, noncommunicable, noteworthy, numinous, phenomenal, portentous, prodigious, religious, remarkable, sacred, sacrosanct, spiritual, stupefying, stupendous, transcendent, transcendental, undefinable, unexampled, unmentionable, unnameable, unparalleled, unprecedented, unspeakable, untellable, untouchable, unutterable, unwhisperable, venerable, wonderful