Meanings
- not comparableIn a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate.
The father of a woman living in the incommunicado world of the Big Brother house in Australia has died but his daughter has not been told.
2007 May 25, “Dreadful news awaits housemate”, in Times Online, London, retrieved 29 Jun 20073 more examples
As the storm, described by the National Hurricane Center as “potentially catastrophic,” moved toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Tuesday, little could be learned about the conditions on Dominica. By early Tuesday morning, phone and internet signals on Dominica appeared to be down, leaving the island virtually incommunicado.
2017 August 19, “Hurricane Maria Does ‘Mind-Boggling’ Damage to Dominica, Leader Says”, in The New York Times, Mexico City, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2021, retrieved 21 Aug 2017Navalny, who has been sentenced to nearly three decades in prison, disappeared from a prison in the Vladimir region near Moscow last week, and was suspected to have been transferred into a “special regime” colony, where he could be held incommunicado under Russia’s harshest prison regime for years.
2023 December 18, Andrew Roth, “Russian courts halt cases against Alexei Navalny after jailed activist disappears”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2025He is believed to be holed up, incommunicado, for the fear of being assassinated by Israel. Even top government officials apparently have had no contact with him.
2025 June 26, Kasra Naji, “When Iran's supreme leader emerges from hiding he will find a very different nation”, in BBC, archived from the original on 05 Jul 2025
- not comparableIn a manner in which communication with outsiders is not possible, for either voluntary or involuntary reasons, especially due to confinement or reclusiveness.
The Starz seem most comfortable when they're in the studio, where they can work incommunicado.
2004 April 7, Ben Westhoff, “Making Traks”, in Riverfront Times, St. Louis MO, archived from the original on 20 Oct 2007
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivewithout the means or right to communicate
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Spanishincomunicado
- Englishincommunicado
Borrowed from Spanish incomunicado, with spelling influenced by such English words as communicate.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto senkomunikiĝa
- senkomunikiĝain a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate
German isoliert, abgeschnitten
- isoliertin a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate
- abgeschnittenin a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate
- unerreichbarin a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate
- nicht erreichbarin a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate
- isoliertin a manner in which communication is not possible
- von der Außenwelt abgeschnittenin a manner in which communication is not possible
Spanish incomunicado, incomunicadamente
- incomunicadoin a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate
- incomunicadamentein a manner in which communication is not possible
Cite this entry
incommunicado. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incommunicado
“incommunicado.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incommunicado. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incommunicado,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incommunicado.
Source: incommunicado on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.