Indescribable Meaning
/ɪndɪˈskɹaɪbəbl̩/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjImpossible (or very difficult) to describe.
adjExceeding all description.
Sentence Examples
She is not at all a beauty, but she has an indescribable charm.
Her beauty is indescribable.
The pain of losing a child is indescribable.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The beauty of the Grand Canyon was so vast that it was ____ and no photograph could do it justice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The beauty of the sunset over the desert was truly ____ and left everyone in silent awe.
Word Origin & History
From in- + describe + -able.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The beauty and brilliancy of this insect are indescribable, and none but a naturalist can understand the intense excitement I experienced when I at length captured it."
— 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co.:
"Presently the men set up the melancholy little chant that I had heard on the first night when we were captured in the whaleboat, and the effect produced by their voices was very curious, and quite indescribable."
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
"But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: [...] the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; [...]"
— 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, London: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1907, →OCLC, page 15:
"The time was when, had such an idea entered her mind, it would have been torture indescribable and agony the most intense; but then, subdued as was the usual warmth of her temperament, an awful suspension seemed to hold her feelings in control."
— 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XIV, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 182:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The beauty of the Grand Canyon was so vast that it was ____ and no photograph could do it justice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The beauty of the sunset over the desert was truly ____ and left everyone in silent awe.