Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use ineffable in a sentence

11 example sentences · adjective, noun

Ineffable means beyond expression in words; unspeakable. Example: “He was like the mystic seeking to describe the ineffable.”

Examples of ineffable by meaning

adjectiveBeyond expression in words; unspeakable.

  • He was like the mystic seeking to describe the ineffable.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter 39, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC
  • They, and many others, are one with the trains that ran them, part of that ineffable atmosphere of Scotland's railways.1958 July, J. P. Wilson, “Scottish Soliloquy”, in Railway Magazine, page 495
  • As Alan Watts (1961) wrote, it involves trying to speak the unspeakable, scrute the inscrutable and eff the ineffable.2012, Gay Watson, Stephen Batchelor, Guy Claxton, The Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, science, and our day-to-day lives

More sentences with ineffable

  • It is another way of effing the ineffable, one with potentially serious practical effects.2018, Wesley J. Wildman, Effing the Ineffable: Existential Mumblings at the Limits of Language, page 83. From the entry eff
  • God pronounce his ineffable name, and Manred, the primal substance of the Universe, was formed.2004, Lewis Spence, “The Celtic Idea of the Origin of Man”, in An Introduction to Mythology, Cosimo, Inc, →ISBN, page 169. From the entry manred
  • The ineffable self-satisfaction displayed by the young Turkish papicide during his interrogation and trial was not unreasonable.1982, Polish Perspectives, volume XXV, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Wspólczesne RSW Prasa-Książka-Ruch, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 40. From the entry papicide
  • Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”2020, Tim Vivian, Other Voices, Other Rooms: Poems, page 100. From the entry eff
  • Cary Grant imparts his ineffable charm, Kennedy (with metal hand) provides comic brutality, while Hepburn is elegantly fraught.2002, John Pym, Time Out Film Guide, page 202. From the entry impart
  • Ineffable sarcasm underlined the word 'bride', suggesting that Mrs Mudge must be a drab who had married for respectability.1957, Frank Swinnerton, The Woman from Sicily, London: Hutchinson, →OCLC, page 194. From the entry drab
  • In Pearl, "cortaysye" provides an adequate but aenigmatic metaphor for the ineffable precisely because the term itself denotes so elusive a concept.1991, Text and Matter: New Critical Perspectives of the Pearl-Poet, Whitston, page 87. From the entry aenigmatic
  • Pig, not normally reticent in these matters, now acted like a mystic after a vision; unable, maybe unwilling, to put in words this ineffable or supernal talent of Panky’s.1963, Thomas Pynchon, V.. From the entry supernal

Meaning of ineffable

  1. adjective Beyond expression in words; unspeakable.
  2. adjective Forbidden to be uttered; taboo.
  3. noun Something that is beyond utterance; something unspeakable.

Full definition of ineffable

Questions about ineffable in a sentence

How do you use ineffable in a sentence?
Ineffable is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “He was like the mystic seeking to describe the ineffable.”
What is a short sentence with ineffable?
“He was like the mystic seeking to describe the ineffable.”
What does ineffable mean?
Ineffable means beyond expression in words; unspeakable.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ineffable (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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