Word of the Day : June 10, 2019

ineffable \in-EFF-uh-bul\ adjective

Definition

1 a : incapable of being expressed in words : indescribable

b : inexpressibly bad : unspeakable

2 : not to be uttered : taboo

Did You Know?

"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 easy to see that ineffable means "indescribable" or "unspeakable." And when we break down the word to its Latin roots, it's easy to 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 ("to speak").

Aired June 10, 2019

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