Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INENARRABLE
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connect today's word to others:
Today's inenarrable literally means "not able to be told, or not able to be recounted."
Could you recall a close synonym of inenarrable that literally means "not able to be spoken out"? It's in_ff__le.
Isn't this wonderful? Even when words fail us, we still have words to describe the failure.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"INENARRABLE"
When you narrate something, you tell how it happened.
The rare word "enarrate" means to tell very clearly how something happened.
Something enarrable can be narrated: you can explain exactly how it happened, or you can describe it in words.
And something inenarrable can't be narrated: you can't put into words how it happened, or you can't describe it in words.
Pronunciation:
in in AIR uh bull
Part of speech:
Adjective.
(Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late."
They can be used in two ways:
1. Right before a noun, as in "an inenarrable thing."
2. After a linking verb, as in "It was inenarrable.")
Other forms:
You can drop the first "e" from the words "enarrable" and "inenarrable" and use the alternate forms: "narrable" and "innarrable."
How to spell it right every time:
Think about the meaning of each piece as you write it:
"in" means "not,"
"e" means "out,"
and "narrable" means "tellable."
Notice the double "r," just like in "narrate" and "narrator."
And notice there's NOT a double "n," because we don't need to double anything as we tack the "e" onto the base word "narrable." Just like we don't double the "n" in "enumerate" or "enunciate."
How to use it:
"Inenarrable" is a rare word. Odds are high that, when you use it, it'll be the first time your listener (or reader) hears it (or sees it).
So, I suggest using it in writing more often than speech: when people can see how it's spelled, it's much easier to recognize that it means "un-narrate-able." Or just make sure your context reveals the meaning.
You might talk about inenarrable misery or happiness, inenarrable power or wisdom, inenarrable goodness or greatness, or an inenarrable mystery or phenomenon.
If you talk about an inenarrable period of time, you mean it was filled with indescribable events.
And you might say that something is inenarrable by someone: "a mystery inenarrable by anyone."
examples:
That song is all tangled up with memories decades old; it fills me with inenarrable nostalgia.
Historical fiction, done well, narrates the inenarrable: it pulls us into a full, rich story, an authentic stand-in for every real one we can never access.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "inenarrable" means when you can explain it without saying "not narrate-able" or "indescribable."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "In a moment of inenarrable (bliss or pain), (something happened)."
Example: "In a moment of inenarrable bliss, I heard my little daughter spontaneously invent a word. (She wouldn't go down the plastic slide with the metal bolts: it was too 'shocky.')"
before you review:
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."
We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.)
Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it.
We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies.
See if you can recall the word from the previous issue:
Your aging uncle talks nonstop about his own ailments. You try to distract him with other topics, but he reverts instantly back to his medicines, his aches and pains, and his last hospital visit in all its meticulous detail. What noun describes him? (It's seven syllables.)
See the answer by scrolling all the way down.
Today, let’s check out one last quirky keeper: "agathokakological." With Greek roots for "good" (the agath part) and "evil, bad, or ugly" (the kako part), this adjective means "made up of both good and evil." (Notice the similarity to the name Agatha--Greek for "good"--and to words about bad or ugly things, like cacophony.)
Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of someone or something agathokakological, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory.
review today's word:
1. The exact opposite of INENARRABLE is ENARRABLE.
But a close opposite of INENARRABLE is
A. LAUGHABLE.
B. EXPLICABLE.
C. DESPICABLE.
2. For me, this remains an inenarrable _____.
A. Dad joke: the one about why chicken coops have only two doors
B. enigma: his refusal to rest or to take medicine when he's sick
C. mistake: assuming every show will start right on time
Answers are below.
a final word:
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From Liesl's blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Answer to the game question:
He's a valetudinarian: a sickly person obsessed with his or her own sickliness.
Answers to review questions:
1. B
2. B
Today's inenarrable literally means "not able to be told, or not able to be recounted."
"INENARRABLE" When you narrate something, you tell how it happened. Part of speech: Other forms:
That song is all tangled up with memories decades old; it fills me with inenarrable nostalgia.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "inenarrable" means when you can explain it without saying "not narrate-able" or "indescribable."
Fill in the blanks: "In a moment of inenarrable (bliss or pain), (something happened)."
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The exact opposite of INENARRABLE is ENARRABLE.
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |