as in mysterious
impossible to understand
advanced scientific theories of ungraspable complexity for the layperson
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Recent Examples of ungraspable
Eraserhead was so ungraspable, so far into left field, that most critics dismissed it at the time.
—
Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
One gazes into the geographical expanse of this place to try to grasp the ungraspable scale of things.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 5 Jan. 2023
It’s a megagenre, something the poet-philosopher Timothy Morton might call a hyperobject, ungraspable in its ubiquity and scale.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022
The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him.
—Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
The ecological relationships that Darwin brings to our attention tell us of a world of bonds much more complex and ungraspable than had ever previously been supposed.
—Longreads, 23 Mar. 2021
The Internet of Things is an ungraspable future, particularly when the fact of a future for Earth at all sometimes sounds implausible.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 14 May 2020
The river itself was a standard-issue metaphor of time’s ungraspable flux and constancy.
—Wells Tower, Outside Online, 11 July 2018
The new volume, the first in English to bring together all seven of Machado’s story collections, illustrates both the refined pleasures and the somewhat ungraspable nature of his art.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 28 June 2018
Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
One gazes into the geographical expanse of this place to try to grasp the ungraspable scale of things.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 5 Jan. 2023
It’s a megagenre, something the poet-philosopher Timothy Morton might call a hyperobject, ungraspable in its ubiquity and scale.
—Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 13 Dec. 2022
The scope of something inexpressible, a mammoth, ungraspable intimation, had overtaken him.
—Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2021
The ecological relationships that Darwin brings to our attention tell us of a world of bonds much more complex and ungraspable than had ever previously been supposed.
—Longreads, 23 Mar. 2021
The Internet of Things is an ungraspable future, particularly when the fact of a future for Earth at all sometimes sounds implausible.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 14 May 2020
The river itself was a standard-issue metaphor of time’s ungraspable flux and constancy.
—Wells Tower, Outside Online, 11 July 2018
The new volume, the first in English to bring together all seven of Machado’s story collections, illustrates both the refined pleasures and the somewhat ungraspable nature of his art.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 28 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungraspable
Adjective
-
Several years later, Hoffa disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was never seen again.—
David Wharton,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2025
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The groundbreaking find, the researchers claim, could reshape our understanding of the universe and its most powerful and mysterious signals.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA TODAY,
27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Because Lynch’s whole deal was about engagement — connection through friction, comprehension through acknowledging the incomprehensible world all around us, empathy by way of bridging the gap between disparate concepts.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Jan. 2025
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The people who tend Altadena’s venerable deodar cedars have suffered incomprehensible community losses this week, but Santa Rosa Avenue, a.k.a.—
Jeanette Marantos,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Unedited images beyond any horror movie ran in a continuous stream, showing mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers standing on the ledges, making the unfathomable decision to jump from the burning buildings.—
Dara Riordan,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
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The sword at least offers some measure of closure; the retrieval effort a bit of agency in an unfathomable situation.—
Katie Kilkenny,
The Hollywood Reporter,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The video brings to mind the claims made in Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, in which Fisher proposed that capitalism has the uncanny ability to subsume all critiques into itself.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes,
20 Jan. 2025
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When spending time with them, Brunelle observed uncanny similarities in their behavior and interests.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
18 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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According to Klippenstein, parts of the document are unintelligible due to Mangione's handwriting.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2024
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Instead, like 2022’s Smile, the end credits are accompanied by haunting unintelligible voices and sounds throughout.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes,
17 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
Studying Trump’s image-making is, for better or worse, one of the few windows into the worldview of an otherwise impenetrable figure.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN,
18 Jan. 2025
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Special run-flat tires, a new thing at the time, finish off the impenetrable visage.—
Josh Max,
Forbes,
17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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With athletic directors increasingly consumed by revenue generation, schools are relying more and more on outside firms to help fill holes up and down their staff directories, from Olympic sports coaches to even more esoteric positions.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
16 Jan. 2025
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Certainly, the many other bravura moments of The Return suggest a storyteller with enough juice to make even his most fanciful, esoteric ideas and characters into reality.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Both parties have spent much of the 21st century using what had been obscure procedural tactics to delay or slowly derail presidential nominees for Cabinet posts, regulatory agency boards and federal judgeships.—
Ed O'Keefe,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2025
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The recent wildfires shine a spotlight on an obscure firefighting charity.—
Hunter Clauss,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near ungraspable
Cite this Entry
“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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