as in mysterious
impossible to understand
advanced scientific theories of ungraspable complexity for the layperson
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Recent Examples of ungraspable
Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire.
—
Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
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
Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungraspable
Adjective
-
Scientists will use this data to study dark matter and dark energy, which make up most of the universe but remain mysterious.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 July 2025
-
Here's everything to know about the teenager's final hours and the aftermath of her mysterious death.—
Alex Gurley,
People.com,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
And as the discourse around it keeps stacking up, what started as a silly turn of phrase has devolved into an incomprehensible mess that’s preventing people from noticing the much more insidious shift around them.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
11 July 2025
-
This is because for the first Daemon X Machina, the story was an incomprehensible mess.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
Future threats to Uruguayan waterfowl conservation notwithstanding, for our group of American bird hunters, another clear-cool afternoon proves ideal to visit the edge of a grove of eucalyptus, a favorite roost for nearly unfathomable numbers of doves.—
Chris Dorsey,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
-
Here are the four teams that did the unfathomable and won on the road: Cavs over Warriors (2016): LeBron James had The Block, Kyrie Irving hit that go-ahead shot and Kevin Love had The Stop in a 93-89 win.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
The identity of Jake's owner remains as mysterious as the robot's uncanny ability to flatter strangers.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
-
These technologies can imitate voices, faces and even emotional expressions with uncanny precision.—
Jennifer C. Wolfe,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
As satire, Next to Heaven is unintelligible, as though someone is universalizing their own hangups and then skewering them for clout.—
Book Marks
June 20,
Literary Hub,
20 June 2025
-
Filled with uncanny creatures and unintelligible language, the book's inspiration came, Serafini muses, either from aliens, or his cat.—
David Morgan,
CBS News,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
When selecting a provider, organizations should remember to look for one that offers robust data protection offerings that ensure the storage sets are impenetrable.—
Dave Friend,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
-
Built inside a mountain some 300 feet underground and reinforced by layers of concrete, the plant, which is the most likely target of a potential American strike, is impenetrable by any bomb except the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 June 2025
Adjective
-
After Congress reversed course on accountability in 2015, results for everyone got worse, even as progressive jurisdictions started adopting increasingly esoteric equity strategies.—
Matthew Yglesias,
Boston Herald,
9 June 2025
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Of course, Yamagata is a long way to go just to peep some jellyfish, so combine a visit with the misty temples of nearby Dewa Sanzan, three mountains sacred to the ascetics of the esoteric Shugendo religion.—
Jessica Kozuka,
Travel + Leisure,
27 May 2025
Adjective
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Outraged, Gauguin located an obscure French law that proved only children within a four-kilometre radius of a school were bound to attend.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
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Chartreuse Made by actual French monks based on a nearly 300-year-old secret recipe, this high-proof, kelly green spirit is a bit of an obscure flex.—
Amiel Stanek,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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