Meaning & use
unperceivable
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableformalrare
Impossible to notice or detect with the senses or the mind, usually because it is too faint, small or subtle.
Grammar: Can sit before a noun or after a linking verb: an unperceivable change, the change was unperceivable.
Patterns
- unperceivable to someone
- unperceivable by something
The shift in colour was unperceivable to most viewers.
Some vibrations are unperceivable without special instruments.
To the casual listener, the difference between the two recordings is unperceivable.
Common combinations
- virtually unperceivable
- The scratch was virtually unperceivable in normal light.
- unperceivable to the human eye
- The flicker is unperceivable to the human eye.
- an unperceivable difference
- He argued there was an unperceivable difference between the two brands.
- remain unperceivable
- The signal would remain unperceivable until the equipment improved.
Synonyms and how they differ
- imperceptible
- Imperceptible is the usual everyday word and sounds more natural, while unperceivable feels stiff and technical.
- undetectable
- Undetectable stresses that a test or device cannot find something, not just that a person cannot sense it.
- invisible
- Invisible is limited to sight, but unperceivable can cover any sense or even an idea.
Opposites
Word family
- perceive verb
- to become aware of something through the senses
- perception noun
- the way something is noticed or understood
- perceivable adjective
- able to be noticed
- imperceptible adjective
- too slight to be noticed
Commonly confused: unperceivable or unperceived?
unperceivable vs unperceived
Unperceived means that something was simply not noticed. Unperceivable means that it could not be noticed at all.
Practice
Which word best completes the sentence? The tremor was so faint that it was ___ without a seismograph.
Choose one answer.
Unperceivable means impossible to sense, which matches a tremor too faint to feel. Unbearable and unbelievable are real words but describe pain or doubt, not detection.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unperceivable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.