in·de·fin·a·ble

(ĭn′dĭ-fī′nə-bəl)

adj.

Impossible to define, describe, or analyze: indefinable yearnings.

in′de·fin′a·bil′i·ty, in′de·fin′a·ble·ness n.

in′de·fin′a·bly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

indefinable

(ˌɪndɪˈfaɪnəbəl)

adj

incapable of being defined or analysed: there was an indefinable sense of terror.

ˌindeˈfinableness n

ˌindeˈfinably adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•de•fin•a•ble

(ˌɪn dɪˈfaɪ nə bəl)

adj.

not readily identified, described, analyzed, or determined.

[1800–10]

in`de•fin′a•ble•ness, n.

in`de•fin′a•bly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	indefinable - not capable of being precisely or readily described; not easily put into words; "an indefinable feeling of terror"; "an abstract concept that seems indefinable" undefinable undefined, vague - not precisely limited, determined, or distinguished; "an undefined term"; "undefined authority"; "some undefined sense of excitement"; "vague feelings of sadness"; "a vague uneasiness"
	2.	indefinable - defying expression or description; "indefinable yearnings"; "indescribable beauty"; "ineffable ecstasy"; "inexpressible anguish"; "unspeakable happiness"; "unutterable contempt"; "a thing of untellable splendor" indescribable, ineffable, unspeakable, untellable, unutterable inexpressible, unexpressible - defying expression

indefinable

adjective inexpressible, vague, indescribable, obscure, dim, hazy, nameless, indistinct, unrealized, impalpable There was something indefinable in her eyes.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

indefinable

adjective

That cannot be described:

incommunicable, indescribable, ineffable, inexpressible, undescribable, unspeakable, unutterable.

Idioms: beyond description, defying description.

Translations

indefinibel

indefinibile

indefinable

[ˌɪndɪˈfaɪnəbl] ADJ → indefinible

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

indefinable

[ˌɪndɪˈfaɪnəb^əl] adj → indéfinissable

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

indefinable

adj word, colour, charm → unbestimmbar, undefinierbar; feeling, impression → unbestimmt; she has a certain indefinable something → sie hat das gewisse Etwas

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

indefinable

[ˌɪndɪˈfaɪnəbl] adj → indefinibile

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

She told herself that she longed greatly to go back to those dear merry days when life was seen through a rosy mist of hope and illusion, and possessed an indefinable something that had passed away forever.

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I had retired early and fallen almost immediately into a peaceful sleep, from which I awoke with that indefinable sense of peril which is, I think, a common experience in that other, earlier life.

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An indescribable uneasiness pervaded all minds, an indefinable sensation which oppressed the heart.

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The room was well lighted by a number of large windows and was beautifully decorated with mural paintings and mosaics, but upon all there seemed to rest that indefinable touch of the finger of antiquity which convinced me that the architects and builders of these wondrous creations had nothing in common with the crude half-brutes which now occupied them.

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In some indefinable way the black face thus flashed upon me shocked me profoundly.

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A certain indefinable apprehension still kept me in the saddle of the machine.

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The young man started, and fastened his eyes on her face with an indefinable look of delight mingled with sorrow.

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Almost every devout admirer of the old bards, if demanded his opinion of their productions, would mention vaguely, yet with perfect sincerity, a sense of dreamy, wild, indefinite, and he would perhaps say, indefinable delight; on being required to point out the source of this so shadowy pleasure, he would be apt to speak of the quaint in phraseology and in general handling.

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Either to a Power indefinable, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address but which I cannot even express in words- the Great All or Nothing-" said he to himself, "or to that God who has been sewn into this amulet by Mary!

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He lounged along, smoking a large cigar, keen-eyed and observant, laying up for himself a store of impressions, unconsciously irritated at every step by a sense of ostracism, of being in some indefinable manner without kinship and wholly apart from this world, in which it seemed natural now that he should find some place.

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Of course that is something indefinable, impalpable, but it has never been so before, and that glance means a great deal," she thought.

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I hate a man who goes to sleep at once; there is a sort of indefinable something about it which is not exactly an insult, and yet is an insolence; and one which is hard to bear, too.

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