as in mysterious
impossible to understand
advanced scientific theories of ungraspable complexity for the layperson
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ungraspable
Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire.
—
Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
Eraserhead was so ungraspable, so far into left field, that most critics dismissed it at the time.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
One gazes into the geographical expanse of this place to try to grasp the ungraspable scale of things.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 5 Jan. 2023
It’s a megagenre, something the poet-philosopher Timothy Morton might call a hyperobject, ungraspable in its ubiquity and scale.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022
The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him.
—Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
The ecological relationships that Darwin brings to our attention tell us of a world of bonds much more complex and ungraspable than had ever previously been supposed.
—Longreads, 23 Mar. 2021
The Internet of Things is an ungraspable future, particularly when the fact of a future for Earth at all sometimes sounds implausible.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 14 May 2020
The river itself was a standard-issue metaphor of time’s ungraspable flux and constancy.
—Wells Tower, Outside Online, 11 July 2018
Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
Eraserhead was so ungraspable, so far into left field, that most critics dismissed it at the time.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
One gazes into the geographical expanse of this place to try to grasp the ungraspable scale of things.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 5 Jan. 2023
It’s a megagenre, something the poet-philosopher Timothy Morton might call a hyperobject, ungraspable in its ubiquity and scale.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022
The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him.
—Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
The ecological relationships that Darwin brings to our attention tell us of a world of bonds much more complex and ungraspable than had ever previously been supposed.
—Longreads, 23 Mar. 2021
The Internet of Things is an ungraspable future, particularly when the fact of a future for Earth at all sometimes sounds implausible.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 14 May 2020
The river itself was a standard-issue metaphor of time’s ungraspable flux and constancy.
—Wells Tower, Outside Online, 11 July 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungraspable
Adjective
-
Carlton Reid Based on 20 years of observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, new research sheds light on one of the solar system’s most mysterious planets.—
Ryan Waniata,
Wired News,
27 May 2025
-
Denim shifts toward a mysterious direction in Blooming Darkness.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
27 May 2025
Adjective
-
Consumers have gotten used to a complicated annual plan selection, confusing industry jargon, and incomprehensible coverage policies.—
Dan Gingiss,
Forbes.com,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Every version of it, whether recorded in a studio, live with a full orchestra or only a piano, just rails through absolutely incomprehensible storytelling (something about virgins on a spaceship?) with a lusty guitar and smashed piano chords.—
Shana Naomi Krochmal,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Besting five runs would’ve been unfathomable for Toronto last week.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
-
Books, Arts & Manners Books The Second World War’s Masters and Commanders Rich Lowry The choices and predilections of leaders can bring national triumph, or catastrophe and unfathomable suffering.—
Mary Katharine Ham,
National Review,
17 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The lyrebird is a master mimic, able to reproduce the calls of other birds, chainsaws, camera shutters, car alarms, and even human voices with uncanny precision.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
-
Filled with uncanny creatures and unintelligible language, the book's inspiration came, Serafini muses, either from aliens, or his cat.—
David Morgan,
CBS News,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
In a life-or-death emergency, voice signals might fade or be unintelligible; Morse code could punch through static and bad weather.—
Laurie Gwen Shapiro,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
Decisions once made by human engineers in the future are now being executed by models whose internal logic may be unintelligible even to their creators.—
Anuj Tyagi,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
This sweetly reticent follow-up is a drama about the impenetrable singularity of a young girl’s mind.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
26 May 2025
-
Things only get less interesting as that love triangles widens into an awkward kind of square, the chiaroscuro splendor of Soderbergh’s cinematography laboring to compensate for a murder-mystery that’s as scattered and impenetrable as Berlin itself.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Everyone knows Gaudí’s architecture; his furniture is a more esoteric thing.—
Anthony Paletta,
Curbed,
20 May 2025
-
His tastes ebbed and flowed between aggressive music and more esoteric tastes, as his collaborators came to range from Richard Thompson to Hal Willner, whose tribute to Federico Fellini and Nino Rota included contributions from Thomas, as did a collection of sea shanties.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The banner offers a peek into a relatively obscure group during a critical moment in American history.—
Joseph States,
Chicago Tribune,
3 June 2025
-
The other is a bit more obscure: Juan Samuel, with 70 extra-base hits and 72 steals as a Phillies rookie in 1984.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share