untranslatable

U1N1T1R1A1N1S1L1A1T1A1B3L1E1
UK/ˈʌnˌtɹænz.leɪt.ə.bəl/

adjective

Not able to be translated.

“They referred to de Gaulle as a chienlit, a totally untranslatable term that suggests defecation in bed.”

Opposite
translatable
OriginEnglish translatable ← Middle English un- ← Old English un- →
RareScrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveuntranslatable (comparative more untranslatable, superlative most untranslatable)

comparative more untranslatable · superlative most untranslatable

  1. Not able to be translated.

    They referred to de Gaulle as a chienlit, a totally untranslatable term that suggests defecation in bed.

    2 more examples

    This glyph's data contains references to energy conversion or respiration; however, it may also be describing a transformation via some untranslatable process. It pays close attention to mass-energy equivalence, though the ratios are strange.

    2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Thermodynamic Glyph

    In translating untranslatable words, there is a need to use a sentence or phrase before the message can be passed across.

    2024 July 23, Moses Famuyiwa, “12 Untranslatable English Words You Should Learn”, in LiveXP, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2025
noununtranslatable (plural untranslatables)

plural untranslatables

  1. A word or phrase that is impossible to translate satisfactorily from one language to another.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
translatable

adjectivenot capable of being put into another form or style or language

Opposite
translatable

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishtranslate
  9. Englishtranslatable
  10. Englishuntranslatable

From un- + translatable.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan intraduïble
  • intraduïblenot able to be translated
Chinese Mandarin 不可譯 /不可译
  • 不可譯 /不可译 (bùkěyì)not able to be translated
Czech nepřeložitelný
  • nepřeložitelnýnot able to be translated
Dutch onvertaalbaar
  • onvertaalbaarnot able to be translated
Esperanto netradukebla
  • netradukeblanot able to be translated
Finnish kääntämiskelvoton, kääntymätön
  • kääntämiskelvotonnot able to be translated
  • kääntymätönnot able to be translated
French intraduisible
  • intraduisiblenot able to be translated
German unübersetzbar
  • unübersetzbarnot able to be translated
Greek αμετάφραστος
  • αμετάφραστος (ametáfrastos)not able to be translated
Hungarian lefordíthatatlan
  • lefordíthatatlannot able to be translated
Icelandic óþýðanlegur
  • óþýðanlegurnot able to be translated
Italian intraducibile
  • intraducibilenot able to be translated
Japanese 翻訳不可能
  • 翻訳不可能 (hon'yaku fukāno)not able to be translated
Lithuanian neišverčiamas
  • neišverčiamasnot able to be translated
Polish nieprzetłumaczalny
  • nieprzetłumaczalnynot able to be translated
Portuguese intraduzível
  • intraduzívelnot able to be translated
Romanian netraductibil
  • netraductibilnot able to be translated
Russian непереводи́мый
  • непереводи́мый (neperevodímyj)not able to be translated
Slovak nepreložiteľný
  • nepreložiteľnýnot able to be translated
Spanish intraducible
  • intraduciblenot able to be translated
Swedish oöversättlig
  • oöversättlignot able to be translated
Ukrainian неперекладни́й
  • неперекладни́й (neperekladnýj)not able to be translated
Cite this entry
APA

untranslatable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/untranslatable

MLA

“untranslatable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/untranslatable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “untranslatable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/untranslatable.

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