Word of the Day!

ineffable [in-ef-uh-buhl]

adjective:
1 incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible
2 not to be spoken because of its sacredness; unutterable

Examples:

No unearthly agenda at all, in fact, ineffable or infernal. (Alexis Gunderson, The Ineffable Romance of Good Omens… Four Years, One Pandemic, and Two Hollywood Strikes Later, Literary Hub, August 2023)

"I'm aware it sounds kind of unbelievable," says Foot - which, among its other qualities, is what makes this show remarkable: a standup set that leads us into the ineffable, and dares to leave us there. (Brian Logan, Paul Foot: Dissolve review - a comic antidote to life's pain, The Guardian, August 2023)

Madagascar cinnamon, if you would. From the East Coast. It has a certain ineffable quality imparted by the rays of the setting sun. (James Lileks, How to do Father's Day the old-fashioned way, Star Tribune, June 2022)

Can you understand the happiness I get out of my absinthe? I yearn for it; and when I drink it I savour every drop, and afterwards I feel my soul swimming in ineffable happiness. (W Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage )

Origin:

late 14c, 'beyond expression, too great for words, inexpressible,' from Old French ineffable (14c) or directly from Latin ineffabilis 'unutterable,' from in- 'not, opposite of' + effabilis 'speakable,' from effari 'utter,' from assimilated form of ex 'out' + fari 'to say, speak,' from PIE root bha- (2) 'to speak, tell, say.' (Online Etymology Dictionary)

"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 clear that ineffable means 'indescribable' or 'unspeakable.' And when we break the word down to its Latin roots, we see how those meanings came about. Ineffable comes from ineffābilis, which joins the prefix in-, meaning 'not,' with the adjective effābilis, meaning 'capable of being expressed.' Effābilis comes from effārī, 'to speak out,' which in turn comes from ex- and fārī, meaning 'to speak.' (Merriam-Webster)