as in mysterious
impossible to understand
advanced scientific theories of ungraspable complexity for the layperson
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Recent Examples of ungraspable
Its scope is gargantuan and ungraspable, and as such, the appropriate level of grief does not seem human in scale.
—
Literary Hub, 21 July 2025
Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire.
—Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
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
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
Literary Hub, 21 July 2025
Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire.
—Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungraspable
Adjective
-
In a decadent Venetian hotel, androgynous Eva is drawn to the mysterious Contessa.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
23 Oct. 2025
-
When a mysterious prankster befalls the town of Middlesburg, 13-year-old Frances McCausland (Erin Chambers) gets blamed for the mischief.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
That would be an almost incomprehensible outcome, given that Mendoza — after graduating from Miami’s Columbus High School — had just one scholarship offer from a major-conference school, and that came from Cal just one day before National Signing Day.—
Walter Villa,
Miami Herald,
22 Oct. 2025
-
In the face of that, Keaton’s off- and sometimes on-duty style represented limitless possibilities, and a previously incomprehensible kind of freedom.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Advisers were on hand to teach them the nuances of the Situation Room and the importance of maintaining calm under unfathomable stress.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
-
That may sound unfathomable to any non-comic reader who watched Steven Yeun's Mark Grayson get bludgeoned, maimed, and nearly disemboweled (sorry, Atom Eve) in an episode-long, cities-spanning fight with Thragg's berzerker warrior, Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The stunning Louvre museum heist earlier this week in Paris offers an uncanny encapsulation of the broader society-wide phenomenon.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
-
The film examines the exhilarating and uncanny experience of meeting a blood brother for the first time in adulthood.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The vendor said some other things that were unintelligible because of the overlap between her live speech and the lagging translation.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
-
But in an Akan language, the notion that an object could exist as a bare substrate, stripped of properties—say, the idea of a stone, with its weight, texture, and color subtracted—is basically unintelligible; the metaphysical split between a thing and its properties isn’t naturally expressible.—
Lula Konner,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Yes, only two additional albums in 30 years since his 1995 debut, with a 14-year gap between the second and third, but an impenetrable recipe for everyone from Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar.—
Kevin Powell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Oct. 2025
-
For instance, in The Trial, Kafka looks at alienation vis-à-vis a faceless, impenetrable bureaucracy.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Other of these esoteric features might actually be worth seeking out.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
18 Oct. 2025
-
Duran had published articles on Tan and his wealthy colleagues, like Balaji Srinivasan, a tech investor who was promoting an esoteric but stubbornly influential concept called the Network State.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Even after his plea deal and his admission of guilt, Ozer was allegedly telling confusing and conflicting stories about the cause of his problems.—
Steve Belanger,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
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The issue came up on Thursday's live episode after the Oscar-winning Ghost star introduced a Hot Topic about Democratic Maine politician Graham Platner's problematic past — which segued into a confusing admission by the 69-year-old Hollywood legend.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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