Inexpressibles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to an article of clothing that is often worn under other garments or as an inner layer
2. it can also indicate items that are difficult to articulate or describe explicitly
3. the word may also denote garments considered private or of a delicate nature

Etymology: The word is a plain formation: "inexpressible" with the plural "-s" added. The adjective "inexpressible," meaning "not able to be put into words," has been used since the Middle English period, and speakers gradually applied it as a polite euphemism for the trousers themselves, which were too indelicate to name directly. The euphemism works the way many Victorian coinages did. Rather than mention a garment that sat close to the body and the private parts, speakers gestured at it with a word implying that the thing was beyond discussion. Other polite terms of the same kind include "unmentionables," which came to mean underwear in general, and the two words sit side by side as a pair of humorous evasions. Because the joke depends on decorum, the word is now mostly found in comic or nostalgic writing, where it signals a stiffly proper, old-fashioned speaker who would rather not say "trousers" at all.

Synonyms: unmentionables, underwear