utterable
utterable — adjective
- utterablepositive
- more utterablecomparative
- most utterablesuperlative
1. able to be said aloud or put into words, especially a feeling or thought that is
able to be said aloud or put into words, especially a feeling or thought that is hard to share.
After months of silence, Naoko found her grief was finally utterable to a close friend.
utterable + to [person] for a feeling that can now be spoken
The priest believed no thought was too dark to be utterable in the quiet church.
be utterable: a thought that can be spoken aloud
Some emotions feel barely utterable until a trusted listener gives us the words.
Élise wondered whether her deepest fear was even utterable in plain language.
The poet argued that beauty becomes utterable only when we stop chasing perfect words.
- expressible
more common; covers any way of showing a feeling, not only speech
- speakable
stresses physically saying it aloud rather than the act of expressing meaning
- unutterable
far more common than the positive form; means too strong or terrible to put into words
- inexpressible
a feeling so deep that no words can capture it
用法筆記
Almost always used of abstract things such as feelings, thoughts, or names, not of physical objects. Frequently appears with 'barely', 'hardly', or in the negative ('not utterable').