inexpressible

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adjective

Unable to be expressed; not able to be put into words.

“She felt inexpressible contempt for her attackers.”

Similar
inexpressableunexpressableunexpressibleindefinableindescribableineffable
Opposite
expressible
OriginEnglish expressible ← Middle English in- ← Latin in- →
UncommonScrabble 24
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Meanings

adjectiveinexpressible (comparative more inexpressible, superlative most inexpressible)

comparative more inexpressible · superlative most inexpressible

  1. Unable to be expressed; not able to be put into words.

    She felt inexpressible contempt for her attackers.

    2 more examples

    That noise, that awful clamour of uncouthness inexpressible, is the love-call of the storm bird!

    1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 205

    She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.

    1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court

    Synonyms: inexpressable, unexpressable, unexpressible

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveUnable to be expressed; not able to be put into words.

Similar
inexpressableunexpressableunexpressible
Opposite
expressible

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivedefying expression

Similar
unexpressibleindefinableindescribableineffable
Opposite
expressible
Also see
indefinableindescribableineffableinenarrablenamelessunexpressableunexpressibleunsayableunspeakableuntellableunutterable

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Middle Englishin-
  6. Englishin-
  7. Englishexpress
  8. Englishexpressible
  9. Englishinexpressible

From in- + expressible. Piecewise doublet of unexpressible.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἄσπετος
  • ἄσπετος (áspetos)unable to be expressed
Catalan inexpressable
  • inexpressableunable to be expressed
Czech nepopsatelný
  • nepopsatelnýunable to be expressed
Dutch onuitsprekelijk
  • onuitsprekelijkunable to be expressed
Esperanto nedirebla
  • nedireblaunable to be expressed
Finnish sanoin kuvaamaton
  • sanoin kuvaamatonunable to be expressed
French inexpressible, inexprimable
  • inexpressibleunable to be expressed
  • inexprimableunable to be expressed
Greek ανεκδιήγητος
  • ανεκδιήγητος (anekdiígitos)unable to be expressed
Italian inesprimibile
  • inesprimibileunable to be expressed
Polish niewysłowiony
  • niewysłowionyunable to be expressed
Portuguese inexpressável, inexprimível
  • inexpressávelunable to be expressed
  • inexprimívelunable to be expressed
Romanian inexprimabil, neexprimabil
  • inexprimabilunable to be expressed
  • neexprimabilunable to be expressed
Russian невырази́мый
  • невырази́мый (nevyrazímyj)unable to be expressed
Spanish inexpresable
  • inexpresableunable to be expressed
Cite this entry
APA

inexpressible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inexpressible

MLA

“inexpressible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inexpressible. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inexpressible,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inexpressible.

Source: inexpressible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.