unthinkable en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ʌnˈθɪŋkəbəl/
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- Proto-Indo-European *teng-der. Proto-Germanic *þankijaną Proto-West Germanic *þankijan Old English þenċan Middle English thinken English think Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English unthinkable From un- + think + -able.
Meanings
-
That cannot be believed.
Near-synonyms: unbelievable, incredible, inconceivable
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Inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense.
Nothing is unthinkable, nothing impossible to the balanced person, provided it comes out of the needs of life and is dedicated to life's further development
With 16 minutes left on the clock and the tension climbing through the roof, Trinh-Duc tried his luck with a penalty from just inside halfway only to push it wide, but the unthinkable now seemed a real possibility.
2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 27 Nov 2021:It reopened as St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London in the early part of this century, and it now seens unthinkable to demolish such a structure.
2023 August 23, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Check out Britain's famous station hotels: St Pancras”, in RAIL, number 990, page 61:The ruling also comes amid calls from an opposition party for a review of the royal insult law, which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
2021 November 10, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Chayut Setboonsarng, “Thai court rules students' royal reform call sought to overthrow monarchy”, in Reuters, Reuters, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2022, retrieved 10 Nov 2021:Near-synonyms: inconceivable, imponderable
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Extremely improper; extremely at odds with norms of expected behavior.
I want you to know that P.A.C. will pay for a child psychiatrist to come in and testify on behalf of the child so that the homosexual father will not be able to have that little girl overnight and weekends to expose her to what is unthinkable.
1980 December 20, Von Carswell, quotee, “Still At It”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 22, page 2:Near-synonyms: taboo, unspeakable, unutterable, inconceivable
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more unthinkable | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most unthinkable | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
unthinkably · unthinkability · unthinkableness
Synonyms
incredible · taboo · unutterable · inconceivable · unspeakable · imponderable · inconceivable · inconceivable · unbelievable
Translations (59)
fi uskomaton (incapable of being believed; incredible) · nl ondenkbaar (incapable of being believed; incredible) · es impensable (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · de unvorstellbar (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ka წარმოუდგენელი (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · fr inimaginable (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · de undenkbar (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · tr kavranılamaz (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ro neimaginabil (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · fi käsittämätön (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · hi कल्पनातीत (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ro incredibil (incapable of being believed; incredible) · pt impensável (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ru немы́слимый (incapable of being believed; incredible) · fr impensable (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ka წარმოუდგენელი (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ro inimaginabil (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ro neimaginabil (incapable of being believed; incredible) · hu hihetetlen (incapable of being believed; incredible) · fr incroyable (incapable of being believed; incredible) · de unvorstellbar (incapable of being believed; incredible) · bg немислим (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ka დაუჯერებელი (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ro imposibil (incapable of being believed; incredible) · hi अकल्पनीय (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ca impensable (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ar لَا يَخْطُرُ عَلَى الْبَالِ (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ro de neimaginat (incapable of being believed; incredible) · fi käsittämätön (incapable of being believed; incredible) · la incōgitābilis (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · da utrolig (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ru немы́слимый (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ro inconceptibil (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ko 상상도 할 수 없는 (incapable of being believed; incredible) · bg невероятен (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · pl niewiarygodne (incapable of being believed; incredible) · nn utenkjeleg (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · da utænkelig (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · tr düşünülemez (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · hu elképzelhetetlen (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · nn utenkjeleg (incapable of being believed; incredible) · nb utenkelig (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ro de neconceput (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · ro negândibil (incapable of being believed; incredible) · fr inconcevable (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · da utænkelig (incapable of being believed; incredible) · hi अकल्पनीय (incapable of being believed; incredible) · sv otänkbar (incapable of being believed; incredible) · eo nepensebla (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · nn utenkeleg (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · pdt ondenkjboa (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · tr düşünülemez (incapable of being believed; incredible) · sv otänkbar (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · hi कल्पनातीत (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · pt impensável (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ca impensable (incapable of being believed; incredible) · ar لَا يَخْطُرُ عَلَى الْبَالِ (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · el αδιανόητος (inconceivable or unimaginable; extremely improbable in a way that goes against common sense) · it impensabile (incapable of being believed; incredible)