"effable" meaning in English

See effable in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈɛfəbl̩/ Audio: En-au-effable.ogg Forms: more effable [comparative], most effable [superlative]
Etymology: From Latin effābilis (effor (“I utter”) + -able). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|la|effābilis}} Latin effābilis Head templates: {{en-adj}} effable (comparative more effable, superlative most effable)
  1. (archaic, uncommon) Able to be spoken of; able to be expressed. Tags: archaic, uncommon Derived forms: effably
    Sense id: en-effable-en-adj-293PpMQ- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -able, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 96 4 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -able: 95 5 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 97 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 97 3
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Adjective

IPA: /ˈɛfəbl̩/ Audio: En-au-effable.ogg Forms: more effable [comparative], most effable [superlative]
Etymology: From eff (“fuck”) + -able. Etymology templates: {{af|en|eff|-able|t1=fuck}} eff (“fuck”) + -able Head templates: {{en-adj}} effable (comparative more effable, superlative most effable)
  1. (slang, euphemistic) Fuckable; sexually attractive. Tags: euphemistic, slang
    Sense id: en-effable-en-adj-SCCOhlT9 Categories (other): English euphemisms
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2
{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "effābilis"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin effābilis",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin effābilis (effor (“I utter”) + -able).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more effable",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most effable",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "ineffable"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "96 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -able",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "97 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "97 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "effably"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              100,
              107
            ],
            [
              114,
              121
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1872, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christus: A Mystery:",
          "text": "And leave me unto mine, if they be dreams,\n That take such shapes before me, that I see them;\nThese effable and ineffable impressions\nOf the mysterious world, that come to me\n From the elements of\n Fire and Earth and Water,\n And the all-nourishing Ether!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              139,
              146
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1873, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Kenelm Chillingly: His Adventures and Opinions […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:",
          "text": "I could not have chosen better for myself than his highness has chosen for me: my only regret on quitting France is at leaving a prince so effable as Philip, and a courtier so virtuous as St. Simon.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              43,
              50
            ],
            [
              69,
              76
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1996, Richard H. Cracroft, “Rendering the Ineffable Effable: Treating Joseph Smith's First Vision in Imaginative Literature”, in Brigham Young University Studies, volume 36, number 2, →ISSN, pages 93–116:",
          "text": "This attempt by Joseph Smith Jr. to render effable the sublime and ineffable, to contain in words the appearance of the Father and the Son to him on that long ago spring morning in 1820, has become not only the foundational document and “fountainhead” of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also a touchstone of faith and orthodoxy for the Latter-day Saints.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Able to be spoken of; able to be expressed."
      ],
      "id": "en-effable-en-adj-293PpMQ-",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, uncommon) Able to be spoken of; able to be expressed."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "uncommon"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɛfəbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-effable.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg/En-au-effable.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "effable"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "eff",
        "3": "-able",
        "t1": "fuck"
      },
      "expansion": "eff (“fuck”) + -able",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From eff (“fuck”) + -able.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more effable",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most effable",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "effable (comparative more effable, superlative most effable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English euphemisms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              64,
              71
            ],
            [
              90,
              97
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005 October 10, Kourtney Kang, “Return of the Shirt”, in How I Met Your Mother, season 1, episode 4:",
          "text": "Ted: It's… I… I… I can't explain it.\nNatalie: Try!\nTed: It's… ineffable.\nNatalie: I'm not effable?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Fuckable; sexually attractive."
      ],
      "id": "en-effable-en-adj-SCCOhlT9",
      "links": [
        [
          "Fuckable",
          "fuckable"
        ],
        [
          "attractive",
          "attractive"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, euphemistic) Fuckable; sexually attractive."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɛfəbl̩/"
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    {
      "audio": "En-au-effable.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg/En-au-effable.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg"
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  ],
  "word": "effable"
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{
  "categories": [
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    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms borrowed from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms suffixed with -able",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "effably"
    }
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        "2": "la",
        "3": "effābilis"
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      "expansion": "Latin effābilis",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin effābilis (effor (“I utter”) + -able).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more effable",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most effable",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
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      "args": {},
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "ineffable"
        }
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      "categories": [
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with uncommon senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              100,
              107
            ],
            [
              114,
              121
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1872, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christus: A Mystery:",
          "text": "And leave me unto mine, if they be dreams,\n That take such shapes before me, that I see them;\nThese effable and ineffable impressions\nOf the mysterious world, that come to me\n From the elements of\n Fire and Earth and Water,\n And the all-nourishing Ether!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              139,
              146
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1873, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Kenelm Chillingly: His Adventures and Opinions […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:",
          "text": "I could not have chosen better for myself than his highness has chosen for me: my only regret on quitting France is at leaving a prince so effable as Philip, and a courtier so virtuous as St. Simon.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              43,
              50
            ],
            [
              69,
              76
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1996, Richard H. Cracroft, “Rendering the Ineffable Effable: Treating Joseph Smith's First Vision in Imaginative Literature”, in Brigham Young University Studies, volume 36, number 2, →ISSN, pages 93–116:",
          "text": "This attempt by Joseph Smith Jr. to render effable the sublime and ineffable, to contain in words the appearance of the Father and the Son to him on that long ago spring morning in 1820, has become not only the foundational document and “fountainhead” of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also a touchstone of faith and orthodoxy for the Latter-day Saints.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Able to be spoken of; able to be expressed."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic, uncommon) Able to be spoken of; able to be expressed."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "uncommon"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɛfəbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-effable.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg/En-au-effable.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "effable"
}

{
  "categories": [
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    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms suffixed with -able",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
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        "2": "eff",
        "3": "-able",
        "t1": "fuck"
      },
      "expansion": "eff (“fuck”) + -able",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From eff (“fuck”) + -able.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more effable",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most effable",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "effable (comparative more effable, superlative most effable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English euphemisms",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              64,
              71
            ],
            [
              90,
              97
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005 October 10, Kourtney Kang, “Return of the Shirt”, in How I Met Your Mother, season 1, episode 4:",
          "text": "Ted: It's… I… I… I can't explain it.\nNatalie: Try!\nTed: It's… ineffable.\nNatalie: I'm not effable?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        "Fuckable; sexually attractive."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Fuckable",
          "fuckable"
        ],
        [
          "attractive",
          "attractive"
        ]
      ],
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        "(slang, euphemistic) Fuckable; sexually attractive."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "euphemistic",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɛfəbl̩/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-effable.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg/En-au-effable.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/En-au-effable.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "effable"
}

Download raw JSONL data for effable meaning in English (4.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (6fdc867 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.