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
-
Beyond mysterious Gathering new data about Venus is vital, Garvin pointed out, so that the next wave of exploration is grounded in what must be done first as scientists attempt to further reveal our sister world.—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
8 Feb. 2025
-
That gusher of findings will include new observations of exoplanets—or planets orbiting other stars; new surveys of the structure of the Milky Way; and new studies of dark energy, the mysterious, invisible force that causes the universe to expand continuously at an ever-accelerating rate.—
Jeffrey Kluger/Greenbelt,
TIME,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
This is something incomprehensible to any human being.—
Caitlin McFall,
Fox News,
5 Feb. 2025
-
The loss of Oakland’s MLB team and then the city’s greatest MLB son in the same year is an almost incomprehensible loss for fans like Peters, who feel abandoned by the league.—
Melissa Lockard,
The Athletic,
21 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The need for troops was unfathomable to a cluster of humanitarian volunteers from southern Arizona at a tiny aid camp east of Sasabe, Ariz., where miles of border wall abruptly come to an end at an outcropping in the Sonoran Desert.—
Jack Healy,
New York Times,
13 Feb. 2025
-
The amount was unfathomable, but their plan was to reorganize and start paying off the debt, members said.—
Teri Sforza,
Orange County Register,
9 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Du Maurier makes good use of many of the usual tropes of the Gothic genre, especially uncanny doubling: Relentlessly and unfavorably compared to the Manderley estate’s bewitching former mistress, the nameless narrator is pushed to the brink of sanity by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.—
M.L. Rio,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2025
-
Those retouching features can look uncanny, though, and are processor-intensive.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
6 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The sometimes unintelligible lyrics roll out over spare acoustic guitar in what sounds like an unfinished demo.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
16 Jan. 2025
-
From lobbing slow-motion, underhanded softballs of no public interest to failing to seek clarification for unintelligible tirades to ignoring or allowing falsehoods and blatant political spin, the interview serves less as a public service and more as a reminder of ...—
Becket Adams,
National Review,
12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Artificial intelligence is even peering through the most impenetrable of artifacts: ancient, charred scrolls that are too delicate to be unfurled.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN,
8 Feb. 2025
-
What may sound conceptually impenetrable again proves to function not only well, but with humanity, with the release of Horsegiirl’s debut EP, v.i.p. – very important pony.—
Katie Bain,
Billboard,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
But here’s the thing: For the average American, these lofty concerns can feel distant, esoteric and abstract.—
Matt K. Lewis,
Twin Cities,
9 Feb. 2025
-
In addition to leading one of the most progressive, esoteric, and liberalized sects of Islam, the imam was an accomplished racehorse breeder and proponent of Islamic architecture.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Customers can make an appointment to browse the merchandise, including furniture, jewelry, silver, and obscure objects from around the globe, before placing their bids in the auctions, which are held exclusively online.—
Frances MacDougall,
Southern Living,
17 Feb. 2025
-
Players carry fake guns – such as water pistols – while concealing their identities and running through areas and hiding in obscure places.—
Julia Bonavita,
Fox News,
16 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near ungraspable
Cite this Entry
“Ungraspable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungraspable. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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