We all experience moments in life when something extraordinary happens that we could have never imagined. The most challenging part after the memorable event is when people ask how you feel about it but do not know how to respond.
It can be a joyful occasion or a horrendous incident leading to a condition when you can not believe what just happened. When you have a lot going on in your mind it makes it difficult to put your feelings into words sometimes. These mixed feelings can also make it difficult to express your emotions effectively. Understanding that it might not be easy for you to describe, we have shortlisted some phrases and words that describe feelings you can’t explain.
Words are said to be very powerful, as these can significantly impact how people perceive you. The words you chose to speak and describe your feelings give an insight into your personality. Making a correct choice of words at every moment of life will help enhance your communication skills and develop your personality traits.
Share your emotions effectively and allow your loved ones to resonate with your feelings by using these words. To describe your feelings and thoughts better, you should know the vocabulary and learn the correct use of words in sentences. This article has summed up all the moments you feel speechless, and the words you can use to express your feelings in those events.
Table of Contents
Why is it important to express yourself?
Your lifestyle has a significant influence on your mind and body. Your choices that relate to how to live and interact with others define us and are a part of your personality. If you decide to suppress or hide your feelings, it may have an adverse impact on your health as your feelings get buried deep inside and do not magically disappear.
As Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, once said, “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.”
You should interact and communicate with your inner self and the people around you to express your feelings. Therefore, finding the correct words for feelings you can’t explain is very important. Here are some more benefits of expressing your emotions explicitly:
- Reduces stress
- Enhances confidence
- Instills a problem-solving approach
- Helps to consolidate with others
- Increases self-awareness
- Healthier for the brain and the body
Reduces stress
Putting your feelings into words can reduce stress and anxiety. If a person fails to do so, the brain switches to fight or flight mode, producing increased stress hormones that lead to anxiety and depression.
Our brain is wired in a certain way that if we fail to express intense emotions, it can alter or distort itself, resulting in irregular function. Studies show that expressing feelings can reduce amygdala activity – a part of the brain processing emotions.
Enhances confidence
Expressing yourself openly also signifies confidence and resilience, two very important personality traits for a successful life. It keeps you going even if you fail and allows you to try things repeatedly. Identifying your feelings can help you refrain from self-doubt and self-negativity. Once you get familiar with your mindset and emotions, you feel ready to conquer the world.
Instills a problem-solving approach
Recognizing and expressing your emotions using words that explicitly define your present state of mind allows you to react accordingly. It enables you to identify the stimulus producing the distressing thoughts, allowing you to overcome the problems more effectively.
Helps to consolidate with others
Choosing the correct words to express your emotions makes it easier for others to understand your sentiments. It will also encourage them to share their true feelings with you, making you realize that you are not alone in experiencing this.
There is a very popular Swedish proverb: “Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow” which signifies the importance of letting out your feelings. If you share the good news with others, their happiness will make you feel happier, and if you share something distressing, they will console you and make you feel more relaxed.
Increases self-awareness
Self-awareness is a vital trait for productivity and contentment in life. It helps you find the route to success and redefine yourself as a person.
Healthier for the brain and body
Your feelings play a significant role in your mental well-being, thus affecting your physical health. Expressing emotions can enhance mental health as it helps improve relationships, builds confidence, and leads to gratitude and satisfaction. As studies suggest, better mental health reduces blood pressure, maintains blood sugar levels, and diminishes the risk of heart disease.
How to be more expressive?
There are many ways to be more self-expressive. You can connect with others by being a good listener and practicing forgiveness. Try meditation and yoga to identify your emotions. Find things that make you feel happy to be more grateful. Your facial expressions also reflect your mood, so don’t feel guilty about showing excitement or discontentment on your face. Preach and practice acceptance as it is the key to positivity.
Some moments when a person becomes speechless
Life has many planned and unplanned surprises for you that leave your mind baffled. Considering life is very different for everyone, you might not resonate with the feelings of others. There are some occasions that are known to be life-changing as they bring a better version of the person to the world.
Some moments in life, when a person finds it difficult to express their feelings, are mentioned below:
While entering a new phase of life
We all know how exciting it can be to grow older and experience each phase of life. As soon as you know you will not be experiencing the same routine again upsets you, while your excitement to experience something new and unique makes you happy.
One of the most important phases in life is getting married. As much as you are excited to begin this new phase of life with your partner, you feel anxious about being unable to enjoy the perks of being a bachelor. Making a commitment and bringing your big day to life as you had always imagined in front of your friends, families, and other loved ones might also make you anxious.
Entering parenthood is another significant phase of life when putting your feelings into words gets extremely difficult. Holding the baby in their arms for the first time is a moment parents cherish forever and can not feel out of words to describe their feelings.
Many parents describe their parenthood saying it is wholesome, thrilling, fulfilling, and exhausting. Some describe it as having a heart outside the body and the most precious gift one could ever receive.
You can use these beautiful words for feelings you can‘t explain:
Ecstatic
Many words describe happiness, but this word describes overwhelming bliss and joy, which might leave you speechless.
For example, I felt ecstatic as I walked toward my significant other.
Incredibly in love
Love is an emotion that signifies respect, trust, commitment, and selflessness. At times, it gets difficult to express love with words, and that is when you can use the phrase incredibly in love.
For example, I was feeling incredibly in love on my big day.
Agitated
Feeling agitated means upset, feared, or disturbed. When you say you are agitated, it signifies the complexity of all these emotions.
For example, I was agitated about my wedding as nothing went as planned.
Overwhelmed
The word overwhelmed signifies a strong emotional effect that can either be joy, anxiousness, sadness, or nervousness.
For example, all my friends and family gathered to celebrate my love overwhelmed me.
Death
The most disheartening and shocking experience is witnessing a death of a loved one.
You can use words like excruciating, dispiriting, or tormenting to describe the death of a loved one. You might use phrases like make one’s heart sink, or with a heavy heart.
Frightening incident or danger
An incident that was very traumatizing or distressing can also leave you speechless. The best way to communicate after the shock is to describe the incident that occurred, responding to what, when, why, or how. You can use words like horrifying, spine-tingling, and petrifying. You can also use phrases like, make the blood run cold or frightened to death.
For example, the accident made my blood run cold or the ghosts at the haunted house frightened me to death.
Embarrassment
Sometimes an extremely embarrassing event or situation can also give you a tough time recovering and putting your feelings into words. Words humiliated or mortified can help you express embarrassment. Use phrases like eggs on one’s face or blow to one’s pride to describe extremely humiliating events.
For example, their behavior towards me in the class was like a blow to my pride.
Star-struck moment
Another situation that might leave you tongue-tied is when you see or talk to your favorite celebrity or inspiration for the first time. Getting a chance to meet someone you admire is usually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you really want to share how you felt exactly at that moment with your friends and family.
To describe this event, you can use words like spell bounded, hypnotized, intoxicated, bedazzled, and phrases like under someone’s spell or over the moon.
For example, I was over the moon to meet my favorite rockstar.
Sudden realization
When the truth is revealed, or you get to know something unexpected might leave you dumbfounded or speech. In such moments a person often is at a loss for words as a lot is on in their mind. The words epiphany, bombshell, and shocker describe this feeling.
For example, after being stranded in a jungle for hours, I had a moment of epiphany.
Unexpected reaction
Getting a severe unexpected response or reaction from someone can also leave you tongue-tied. You can use words like mystifying, inconceivable, or freakish to describe the uncanny situation.
For example, her action was inconceivable at the birthday party planned by her friends.
Some emotions you have experienced but don’t know the words to describe
There are some common feelings that most people experience but do not find a perfect term to describe them. These feelings are more complex and have specific terminology which defines that feeling. Here are some words that describe these feelings:
- Sonder
- Nighthawk
- Dead reckoning
- Anemoia
- Jouska
- Ecstatic shock
- Heartworm
Sonder
Did you ever observe the people around you while waiting for your flight, thinking about what is on in their minds? This feeling is described by the word sonder. It is used when someone realizes that the person passing by is living as complex a life as they have.
Nighthawk
Have random thoughts ever struck you while in bed at night? The word night hawk describes recurring thoughts that could be due to a pending task, deep guilt, or uncertain future that only strike you late at night.
Dead reckoning
This word describes a feeling you have when you grieve more than expected over someone’s death.
Anemoia
Every era has its own charm that might make you think about living there. The nostalgia about the time you don’t know much about is described by the word anemoia.
Jouska
It is a Polish word that describes a feeling when you have a hypothetical conversation that you repeatedly play in your head.
Ecstatic shock
This word describes the energy you feel inside your body when you glance at someone you know.
Heartworm
The word heartworm describes a relationship or friendship which you can not forget that you thought had faded a long time ago but is somehow alive and unfinished.
You can find more such words here.
Why are there many words to describe similar feelings or emotions?
Emotions define a wide variety of feelings and are sometimes a combination of thoughts. There are many shades to a particular emotion.
For instance, anger can be due to regret, disappointment, loss of hope, or fear. People describing emotions in multiple languages also add to the variety of words used for describing feelings. It can also be due to the infinite diversity of human thoughts.
Find words for emotions you can’t explain
Many words describe similar emotions, but every term has its own power. Check out the list of words and phrases below that are used for describing intense feelings:
- Surprise
- Admiration
- Blessing
- Joy and excitement
Surprise
You can use words like flabbergasted, astounding, and astonishing. If you feel scared or shocked, you can use the phrase cold feet in your sentences.
For example, the roller skates in my birthday gifts left me astonished as I wanted them for years or that horror movie gave me cold feet while everyone else left the movie theater.
Admiration
Do you want to admire someone/something? Use the words sensational, spectacular, jaw-dropping, and mind-blowing. Add the phrases out of this world or too good for this world in your sentences to signify praise and delight.
Blessing
Wondering what to say when you feel very blessed or fortunate? It is the moment when you can not find words to express your gratitude and appreciation for whatever you have received or have achieved. You can use the word, wholesome or the phrase born under a lucky star.
For example, I feel wholesome whenever I hold my daughter in my arms.
Joy and excitement
Using words like exhilarated, euphoric, and enraptured in your sentences can help you express extreme happiness. Many phrases are often used to express joy, such as feeling over the moon, in seventh heaven, on the top of the world, and on cloud nine.
For example, it is exhilarating to know that I am scoring the highest marks in the class or I was on cloud nine when I received an acceptance letter from my dream college.
How can sharing feelings with others prevent negativity?
Telling someone how you feel about them or their actions in a good way can also help prevent negative emotions such as jealousy, inferiority complex, hatred, or resentment. You can open up with other people so they understand your feelings, This will also give them room to improve their actions.
Final words
Be more confident, expressive, and content by using words that describe your feelings most appropriately. The more you learn and connect with thoughts and sentiments, the easier it will be for you to navigate your way through life.
