ineffable • \in-EFF-uh-bul\ • adjective
1 *a : incapable of being expressed in words : indescribable b : unspeakable
2 : not to be uttered : taboo
Example Sentence:
Ed felt an ineffable joy at the sight of his son walking toward him from the plane.
Did you know?
“Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness,” wrote Frederick Douglass in his autobiography. Reading Douglass’s words, it’s easy to see that “ineffable” means “indescribable” or “unspeakable.” And when we break down the word to its Latin roots, it’s easy to see how those meanings came about. “Ineffable” comes from “ineffabilis,” which joins the prefix “in-,” meaning “not,” with the adjective “effabilis,” meaning “capable of being expressed.” “Effabilis” comes from “effari” (“to speak out”), which in turn comes from “ex-” and “fari” (“to speak”).
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
Leave a sentence with proper usage of today’s WotD!
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It is ineffable that you are like a twin to me!!! Haha… <3
that’s a new word for me! i’m getting smarter by the minute
Ooh, good one, Twin Sis!
Ren! You didn’t do your homework! Make up a sentence using “ineffable”!
I’ll do you one better, and come up with a new (but related) word:
“Kate was not attracted to him at all, and had no desire to have sexual relations with him. She found him uneffable.”
LOL Tokster and I were cracking jokes about the same thing earlier. She’s like, “It means I can’t be F’ed!”
haha, that is funny (what may said). yay, I liked this post..I learned a new word…I like learning the roots of the word too.
I get an ineffable feeling during the holidays.