Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Defying expression or description; too extreme or intense to be spoken of or described: Used to describe feelings, qualities, or experiences that are so powerful, profound, or extreme that they cannot be adequately expressed in words.
   • Too sacred or taboo to be spoken aloud: Used to describe something considered so holy, revered, or forbidden that it must not be uttered.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • She felt an unutterable sadness when she heard the news. (The sadness was so deep it could not be fully expressed.)
  • The beauty of the landscape was unutterable. (The beauty was beyond description.)
  • In some traditions, the true name of God is considered unutterable. (The name is too sacred to be spoken.)

Advanced Usage

• Used for emphasis: Often used to intensify the sense of something being beyond the ordinary limits of expression.
  • He was filled with unutterable contempt for their actions. (His contempt was of an extreme degree that words fail to capture.)

Variants and Related Words

• Unutterably (adverb): In a manner that defies expression.
  • The scene was unutterably beautiful.
• Ineffable (adjective): Very similar in meaning, often used interchangeably with 'unutterable' for things too great or extreme to be described.
• Inexpressible (adjective): Incapable of being expressed or described in words.
• Unspeakable (adjective): Often used for things too bad or horrific to be described; can also overlap with 'unutterable' for extreme emotions.

Synonyms

• Ineffable: Too great or extreme to be expressed in words.
• Inexpressible: Incapable of being expressed.
• Indescribable: Impossible to describe adequately.
• Unspeakable: Incapable of being expressed in words (often due to being awful or too wonderful).

Antonyms

• Expressible: Capable of being expressed.
• Describable: Capable of being described.
• Utterable: Capable of being spoken.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The first sense (defying expression) is the most common in modern usage, relating to profound emotions or experiences.
• The second sense (too sacred to utter) is more specialized and often found in religious or formal contexts. In this sense, it is very close to 'ineffable'.

Adjective

1. very difficult to pronounce correctly
   • an unpronounceable foreign word
   • unutterable consonant clusters
2. defying expression or description
   • indefinable yearnings
   • indescribable beauty
   • ineffable ecstasy
   • inexpressible anguish
   • unspeakable happiness
   • unutterable contempt
   • a thing of untellable splendor
3. too sacred to be uttered
   • the ineffable name of the Deity