Unthinkable

How to spell unthinkable

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce unthinkable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unthinkable mean?

1. adjectiveSo shocking, unacceptable, or impossible that one cannot or will not consider it.

Unthinkable in a sentence

• Closing the family business felt completely unthinkable to them.

• Missing the deadline was simply unthinkable given how much depended on it.

Where does unthinkable come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the native English verb think, which descends from the Old English thencan, meaning 'to conceive in the mind' or 'to consider'. To that core the Germanic negative prefix un-, meaning simply 'not', was added at the front, and the suffix -able was attached at the back. That -able ending is the odd one out here: it comes from the Latin -abilis, meaning 'capable of' or 'fit for', and it spread so widely in English that it now attaches happily even to homegrown Germanic verbs like think. So unthinkable is a hybrid, a Germanic word wearing a Latin tail, and its parts read literally as 'not able to be thought'. The sense sharpened over time from 'beyond imagining' to its common modern force, 'so shocking or unacceptable that one refuses even to consider it'.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• think (from Old English thencan: to conceive in the mind)
• -able (capable of being)