Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- In an ineffable manner; so as not to be expressed in words; unspeakably.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In a manner not to be expressed in words; unspeakably.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb Intensifies an adjective to mean
indescribably . - adverb Intensifies an adjective to mean
unmentionably .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb to an inexpressible degree
Etymologies
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Examples
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Told in ineffably understated British style -- so dryly that tone is more a notion than a fact -- you could easily think of it as a story told by laboratory animals, who are aware of their fate as experimental subjects and are resigned to it.
Marshall Fine: HuffPost Review: Never Let Me Go Marshall Fine 2010
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I called my ineffably scummy Representative Tim Johnson (DC office) and left a message with an intern who managed to sound both terminally bored and utterly hostile once I said that I wanted Johnson to vote for the Senate bill.
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From that box tucked under the text of a movie review, the conception of arts coverage as a kind of ineffably digestible, data-driven form of service journalism steadily expanded within the pages of
CJR 2009
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A few mornings later a bird with an ineffably beautiful song woke me.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
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The place was ineffably beautiful, the cottonwoods a deep amber color.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
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His primary goal is to preserve a national order that put him – the ineffably admirable Fred – at the the helm of WaPo.
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The Red Tree is supremely rewarding not merely for its moments of terror, but for its ineffably sensitive display of the complexity of human emotions.
The day before Mabon '09 greygirlbeast 2009
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A Portsmouth supporter's 12-hour, round-trip train journey to watch their team lose 1-0 at Ewood Park or wherever will, in the eyes of some, have been more acutely and ineffably depressing than having been present at a drubbing so historic, so baroque, that to say "I was there" is almost a badge of honour.
Arsenal's ticket gesture to fans misplaced – leave us to our misery | Marina Hyde 2011
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In these islands, "chilli con carney" which always makes me think of those ineffably cool, invariably grizzled men who operated the Waltzers of my youth is traditionally served bursting out of microwaved baked potatoes, or in a neat pile atop a ring of basmati rice, like so much minced meat curry.
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As for brands such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron Constantin and even the ineffably famous and recognizable Cartier, they were only understood by aristocrats and the gentry.
What Does Your Watch Say About You? Ken Kessler 2011
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