incommunicado

English

Etymology

From Spanish incomunicado, with spelling influenced by such English words as communicate.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): [ɪnkəmjunɨˈkɑːdoʊ]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

incommunicado (not comparable)

1. In a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate.
   • 2007 May 25, “Dreadful news awaits housemate”, in Times Online, London, retrieved 29 June 2007:

     The father of a woman living in the incommunicado world of the Big Brother house in Australia has died but his daughter has not been told.

   • 2017 August 19, “Hurricane Maria Does ‘Mind-Boggling’ Damage to Dominica, Leader Says”, in The New York Times, Mexico City, retrieved 21 August 2017:

     As the storm, described by the National Hurricane Center as “potentially catastrophic,” moved toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Tuesday, little could be learned about the conditions on Dominica. By early Tuesday morning, phone and internet signals on Dominica appeared to be down, leaving the island virtually incommunicado.

   • 2023 December 18, Andrew Roth, “Russian courts halt cases against Alexei Navalny after jailed activist disappears”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     Navalny, who has been sentenced to nearly three decades in prison, disappeared from a prison in the Vladimir region near Moscow last week, and was suspected to have been transferred into a “special regime” colony, where he could be held incommunicado under Russia’s harshest prison regime for years.

   • 2025 June 26, Kasra Naji, “When Iran's supreme leader emerges from hiding he will find a very different nation”, in BBC‎:

     He is believed to be holed up, incommunicado, for the fear of being assassinated by Israel. Even top government officials apparently have had no contact with him.

Hyponyms

• off the grid

Translations

in a state or condition of inability or unwillingness to communicate

Esperanto: senkomunikiĝa German: isoliert (de), abgeschnitten (de), unerreichbar (de), nicht erreichbar (de) Spanish: incomunicado (es)

Adverb

incommunicado (not comparable)

1. In a manner in which communication with outsiders is not possible, for either voluntary or involuntary reasons, especially due to confinement or reclusiveness.
   • 2004, Ben Westhoff, "Making Traks," Riverfront Times, St. Louis MO, 7 Apr,

     The Starz seem most comfortable when they're in the studio, where they can work incommunicado.

Translations

in a manner in which communication is not possible

German: isoliert (de), von der Außenwelt abgeschnitten Spanish: incomunicadamente

See also

• incommunicate

References

• “incommunicado”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English incommunicado.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in.kɔ.my.ni.ka.do/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

incommunicado

1. incommunicado