as in inexpressible
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Recent Examples of unsayable
All the secrets pour out, the revelations of infidelity and addiction and so on, as the group gives vent to the stuff that’s previously been unsayable—not to fix anything, mind you, since some things can’t be fixed.
—
Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
What the novel is working toward is not the exposure of a violation, let alone the processing of any real-life event, but a recognition of the self—a self who survives the scourges of childhood, and a storytelling-self who learns that fiction can reveal otherwise unsayable truths.
—Honor Jones, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
But Woolf’s broad, sweeping pronouncements about what literature is and isn’t capable of were always meant sarcastically; her life’s work, after all, was to push the boundaries of literature so as to say the unsayable.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
All fair, but an uncomfortable couch and a passion for the art of the unsayable are not reasons enough to kill oneself.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
These days the words become real only for the speaker—the air whispers to me—the listener is stealing away,
back to its dark habitat, where all is
unsayable.
—Jorie Graham, The New York Review of Books, 31 July 2025
Hordes of us are out there hoping to say the unsayable.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2026
What the novel is working toward is not the exposure of a violation, let alone the processing of any real-life event, but a recognition of the self—a self who survives the scourges of childhood, and a storytelling-self who learns that fiction can reveal otherwise unsayable truths.
—Honor Jones, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
But Woolf’s broad, sweeping pronouncements about what literature is and isn’t capable of were always meant sarcastically; her life’s work, after all, was to push the boundaries of literature so as to say the unsayable.
—Literary Hub, 9 Dec. 2025
All fair, but an uncomfortable couch and a passion for the art of the unsayable are not reasons enough to kill oneself.
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
These days the words become real only for the speaker—the air whispers to me—the listener is stealing away,
back to its dark habitat, where all is
unsayable.
—Jorie Graham, The New York Review of Books, 31 July 2025
Hordes of us are out there hoping to say the unsayable.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsayable
- inexpressible
- indefinable
- indescribable
- unknowable
- inexplicable
- incomprehensible
- unaccountable
- unfathomable
Adjective
-
If everything is systematically interlinked, then life’s transcendent beauty is inextricable from its inexpressible horrors and outright silliness, like the jarring swings between slapstick and tragedy in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.—
Jack Denton,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Instead, there were chuckles to hold back anger and carefully chosen words to express what felt inexpressible.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Our movie tastes are determined by some indefinable electrical current of enthusiasm or joy or deep, radiating sadness, or some combination of the three.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Of course, beauty is subject to taste and culture and all sorts of indefinable things.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
For David and Tara Heidenreich, the moment their son Eli became a Steeler was nearly indescribable.—
Ross Guidotti,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
So Clark, for whom physical intimacy with Carol is still something of a new adventure, recommends looking out for those little indescribable, unique physical details of a person that enhance presence and attraction.—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The truth in this story seems to be elusive and unknowable, and this circles back to your earlier question about what kind of assumptions are made about people with names like Saïd or Tamerlan.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Jonathan Cake makes for a suitably unknowable ghost memory of Willy’s long-dead brother Ben.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Made even more inexplicable by his own background.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Perhaps the most inexplicable one was third-base coach and outfield and base-running instructor Kyle Hudson.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The majesty of the natural world and the incomprehensible vastness of space are almost infinitely rearrangeable variables for documentarians.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Arthur is a creepy dude, a generic-looking cellphone store employee with an incomprehensible plan.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Chicago will need a new mayor willing to immediately tackle daunting challenges — a budget bordering on insolvency, nagging neighborhood crime, and a failing education system led by a powerful and unaccountable teachers union.—
Juan Rangel,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Such groups raked in fees that developers were willing to pay to avoid property taxes, while being unaccountable to the parties affected hundreds of miles away, such as Houston-area property owners and utility districts.—
R.A. Schuetz,
Houston Chronicle,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The Balcony is textbook Manet—grand in ambition, ingeniously composed, visually charismatic, and socially unfathomable.—
Susan Tallman,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
-
This release coincides with the tenth anniversary of the death of His Purple Highness, the singer, songwriter, producer, philanthropist, musician and multi-instrumentalist with an unfathomable life and work.—
Darío Gael Blanco,
Vanity Fair,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsayable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsayable. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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