unutterable
nounEtymology From un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + utterable.
1
Something which is unutterable (incapable of being physically spoken, incapable of being articulated or expressed, etc.).
- Derived terms
- unutterables
unutterable
adjUK /(ˌ)ʌnˈʌt(ə)ɹəbl̩/ · US /ˌʌnˈʌtɚəb(ə)l/
Etymology From un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + utterable.
1
Not utterable; incapable of being physically spoken or voiced; unpronounceable.
2
Incapable of being articulated or expressed; indescribable, inexpressible.
- unutterable anguish
- [H]e is Sir / The moſt vnutterable covvard, that ere nature / Bleſt vvith hard ſhoulders, vvhich vvere only giuen him, / To the ruine of baſtinados.c. 1607–1621 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher; Philip Massinger], The Tragedy of Thierry King of France, and His Brother Theodoret. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1621, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, signature E, recto:
4 more examples
- Prevenient Grace deſcending had remov'd / The ſtonie from thir hearts, and made new fleſh / Regenerat grow inſtead, that ſighs now breath'd / Unutterable, which the Spirit of prayer / Inſpir'd, and wing'd for Heav'n with ſpeedier flight / Then loudeſt Oratorie: […]1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 3–8:
- VVhat is to ſpeak? or vvherefore ſhould I ſpeak? / VVhat means theſe Tears, but Grief unutterable?1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act IV, page 47:
- Still in harmonious intercourſe they liv'd / The rural day, and talk'd the flovving heart, / Or ſigh'd and look'd unutterable things.a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 91, lines 1186–1188:
- [H]e was careſſed by all the people in the neighbourhood; who, while they admired his accompliſhments, could not help pitying his infatuated mother, for being deprived of that unutterable delight which any other parent would have enjoyed in the contemplation of ſuch an amiable ſon.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “Peregrine is Summoned to Attend His Uncle; is More and More Hated by His Own Mother; Appeals to His Father, whose Condecension is Defeated by the Dominion of His Wife”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC, page 59, column 1:
3
Not allowed to be spoken; taboo, unspeakable.
- Hovv oft the humble Scholar came, / And to your Songs he rais'd his Ears / To learn the Unutterable Name, / To view the Eternal Baſe that bears / The Nevv Creations Frame.1706, I[saac] Watts, “To the Memory of the Reverend Mr. Tho[mas] Gouge, who Died January 8. 1⁶⁹⁹⁄₇₀₀”, in Horæ Lyricæ. Poems, Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. […], London: […] S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence […], →OCLC, book II (Odes, Elegies and Epistles, &c. Sacred to Vertue, Loyalty and Friendship), stanza VI, page 253:
4
Figuratively Extremely bad or objectionable; unspeakable.
- These unutterable people upon the telephone have already ruined my morning's work, so that a little more can hardly matter.1929 January, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Disintegration Machine”, in The Professor Challenger Stories […], London: John Murray, […], published [1952], →OCLC, page 531:
- Derived terms
- unutterableness, unutterably
- Related terms
- inutterable, inutterably, unuttered, utterless