as in ineffable
beyond the power to describe
the vastness of the universe is incommunicable
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Recent Examples of incommunicable
Piranesi is a mystery, a mystery of the mind, a way for Clarke to communicate the incommunicable.
—
Jason Kehe, Wired, 21 Sep. 2020
And nothing is more isolating, more incommunicable, than the grief of a parent who has been unable to save their child’s life.
—Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2022
In a way, Tiffany’s rendering of fandom as specific and incommunicable risks undermining her premise, which has to do with the massed power of people online.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 28 June 2022
Abstract artists, including Alberto Burri, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Jack Whitten and Mark Bradford, all found unique ways to use such materials to conjure the weight of incommunicable things.
—Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2021
After more than a decade away, the author is back with Piranesi, a way to communicate the incommunicable.
—Jason Kehe, Wired, 21 Sep. 2020
But the works test, in the depths of the incommunicable, the degree of anyone’s courage to envisage the bad in life, the worse, and the almost inconceivably abysmal.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2020
In one panel, Mary, at the foot of the cross, makes a recognizable gesture — suggesting grief or astonishment so great, so fundamentally incommunicable, that one covers one’s mouth — similar to that made by Matisse’s central bather.
—Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2020
What surprised me was the poetic potential of scurvy, with its awfulness and that terrible sense of isolation, when the possibility of ecstatic delights was inconceivable and incommunicable.
—National Geographic, 15 Jan. 2017
Jason Kehe, Wired, 21 Sep. 2020
And nothing is more isolating, more incommunicable, than the grief of a parent who has been unable to save their child’s life.
—Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2022
In a way, Tiffany’s rendering of fandom as specific and incommunicable risks undermining her premise, which has to do with the massed power of people online.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 28 June 2022
Abstract artists, including Alberto Burri, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Jack Whitten and Mark Bradford, all found unique ways to use such materials to conjure the weight of incommunicable things.
—Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2021
After more than a decade away, the author is back with Piranesi, a way to communicate the incommunicable.
—Jason Kehe, Wired, 21 Sep. 2020
But the works test, in the depths of the incommunicable, the degree of anyone’s courage to envisage the bad in life, the worse, and the almost inconceivably abysmal.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2020
In one panel, Mary, at the foot of the cross, makes a recognizable gesture — suggesting grief or astonishment so great, so fundamentally incommunicable, that one covers one’s mouth — similar to that made by Matisse’s central bather.
—Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2020
What surprised me was the poetic potential of scurvy, with its awfulness and that terrible sense of isolation, when the possibility of ecstatic delights was inconceivable and incommunicable.
—National Geographic, 15 Jan. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incommunicable
Adjective
-
Love, that most ineffable of human experiences, is undergoing a quiet revolution.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
-
Despite its shortcomings, language here convenes with the photograph to become another primary material tasked with confronting the ineffable workings of the body.—
Jessica Simmons-Reid,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
Adjective
-
Head to the historic Stonewall Inn for a day of drag-out-loud fun while raising funds for two incredible charities based at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Community Church: the Global Justice Institute and Sylvia’s Place, one of the city’s largest LGBTQ+ shelters and food pantries.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
31 May 2025
-
The vast majority, if not all, of these entries lacked the originality, the spark, and the incredible production values of the original.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
31 May 2025
Adjective
-
Historians are struggling to recover their inexpressible secrets.—
Erin Maglaque,
The New York Review of Books,
15 Nov. 2024
-
Historians are struggling to recover their inexpressible secrets.—
Erin Maglaque,
The New York Review of Books,
15 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
People doing things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 May 2025
-
People pouring through our borders, unchecked, people doing things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss.—
Avery Lotz,
Axios,
26 May 2025
Adjective
-
At the heart of the film are individual memories of the unspeakable, life-altering agony that Vahid and his companions suffered—experiences that, in light of Panahi’s own persecution, take on a devastating personal significance.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
27 May 2025
-
In its place was a spirit of unity and kindness, a solidarity born out of unspeakable tragedy.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
25 May 2025
Adjective
-
Her work often explores indefinable experiences and emotions, intimacy, connection, and the body’s relationship to nature.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2025
-
An indefinable musical by a French auteur is headed for millions of streaming subscribers.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Two high voices — LACO features soprano Amanda Forsythe and countertenor John Holiday — intertwine with the orchestra turning this hymn to the Virgin Mary’s suffering into unutterable sweetness and treating death as life’s engenderment.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2024
-
In between loads of cartoonish ultraviolence and B-movie horror ephemera came some honestly unutterable lyrics, which Bill fought his faith to perform.—
Jonathan Rowe,
SPIN,
28 June 2022
Adjective
-
The Moorehead family isn’t the only one left to navigate an unexplainable tragedy.—
Sam Gillette,
People.com,
20 May 2025
-
Take it from someone who dealt with unexplainable burning for years.—
Cheyenne Buckingham,
SELF,
13 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incommunicable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incommunicable. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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