inarticulate

1 of 2

adjective

in·​ar·​tic·​u·​late ˌi-(ˌ)när-ˈti-kyə-lət 

1

: incapable of giving coherent, clear, or effective expression to one's ideas or feelings

2

a(1)

: incapable of speech especially under stress of emotion : mute

(2)

: incapable of being expressed by speech

inarticulate fear

(3)

: not voiced or expressed : unspoken

society functions on many inarticulate premises

b

of a sound : uttered or formed without the definite articulations of intelligible speech

3

[New Latin inarticulatus, from Latin in- + New Latin articulatus articulate] : relating to, characteristic of, or being an inarticulate or its shell

inarticulately adverb

inarticulateness noun

inarticulate

2 of 2

noun

: any of a class (Inarticulata) of brachiopods lacking a hinge connecting the two shell valves

Synonyms

Adjective

• mute
• speechless
• voiceless

Examples of inarticulate in a Sentence

Adjective

He's smart, but somewhat inarticulate.

I was almost inarticulate with rage.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

In its least manageable moments, early motherhood must feel like an unpaid job with no breaks, an inarticulate boss and working conditions designed to strip all that’s civil from one’s sense of self. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024

An inarticulate protagonist—a protagonist who isn’t much given to verbally analyzing his own experience—seemed to provide an opportunity to approach things another way, indirectly or suggestively. —Dennis Zhou, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2024

Noun

Our role is not to answer but to question, and to let our questioning run headlong, reckless, into the inarticulate. —Stephen Marche, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2022

To understand the gap between how Nitram saw himself versus how others perceived the inarticulate, angry young man, Kurzel assigned Jones tasks: film himself with a video camera, doodle in a diary. —New York Times, 1 Apr. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Late Latin inarticulatus, from Latin in- + articulatus, past participle of articulare to utter distinctly — more at articulate

First Known Use

Adjective

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 2b

Noun

1952, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

inarticulate

adjective

in·​ar·​tic·​u·​late

ˌin-(ˌ)är-ˈtik-yə-lət

1

a

: not understandable as spoken words

inarticulate cries

inarticulate murmurs

b

: not able to speak

c

: not able to be expressed

inarticulate longings

2

: not able to give clear expression to ideas or feelings

an inarticulate speaker

inarticulately adverb

inarticulateness noun