Word.ws English Dictionary

unsayably

unsayably adverb: in a manner which is inexpressible or is not describable.

Adverb

unsayably (comparative more unsayably, superlative most unsayably)

  1. (rare) In a manner which is inexpressible or is not describable.
    • The aim of TLP is not get us to recognize something that is unsayably true of reality, but rather to cure us of any attempt to represent to ourselves something about reality that cannot be said.1999, Marie McGinn, “Between Metaphysics and Nonsense: Elucidation in Wittgenstein's Tractatus”, in The Philosophical Quarterly, volume 49, number 197, page 493
    • It is only because we can embrace imperatives that cohere with a force beyond being and beyond the world that we can, exceptionally, act as absolutely and "unsayably" free.2003, Peter Halward, “The one or the other: French philosophy today”, in Angelaki, volume 8, number 2, page 13
  2. (rare) In a manner which is not permitted or is inappropriate for expression.
    • Although Lynch fails to examine what is unsayably taboo in the Arab forum, he does show how few programmes feature the environment, unemployment, health, child abuse or anything else that affects everyday life—except politics.2006 March 6, Jean Seaton, "The talking cure" (review of Voices of the New Arab Public by Marc Lynch), New Statesman, p. 54

Forms of unsayably

comparativemore unsayably
superlativemost unsayably

Origin of unsayably

From unsayable + -ly.

Questions about unsayably

What does unsayably mean?
Unsayably means in a manner which is inexpressible or is not describable.
What part of speech is unsayably?
Unsayably is an adverb.

Words near unsayably in the dictionary

  1. unsawn
  2. unsay
  3. unsayability
  4. unsayable
  5. unsayableness
  6. unsayably
  7. unsayed
  8. unsaying
  9. unsays
  10. UNSC
  11. unscabbard

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unsayably (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “unsayably.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unsayably. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.