indigestible

Just like some foods are too hard for your stomach to break down, things that are indigestible are hard to process, whether it is a chewy piece of food or a difficult idea. If a book or article is full of technical language, you might find it indigestible. If someone tells a lie so outrageous that you simply cannot accept it, that can feel indigestible too.

Think of trying to swallow a rock - that is physically indigestible. But the word also applies to things that are hard to take in mentally: an argument you cannot make sense of, or a truth too painful to accept.

The word indigestible literally refers to something that cannot be broken down by the digestive system. Think of cellulose, a part of plant cell walls: humans cannot digest it, so it passes through the body largely unchanged. A sentence like "His diet consisted mostly of indigestible roughage" describes food that gives the body bulk but is not fully broken down.

However, indigestible is also used more broadly. It can describe something that is hard to understand, take in, or accept. A dense academic book full of abstract ideas might feel indigestible to an average reader because it is so hard to get through and understand.

It can also refer to something unpleasant or unacceptable. "The politician's blatant hypocrisy was indigestible to many voters" means they found it so offensive that they could not accept or overlook it. A harsh criticism might also feel indigestible if it is too painful to take in calmly.

So, while it starts with food and digestion, indigestible is also used for ideas, information, or experiences that are hard to absorb, understand, or accept. It suggests something that the stomach, the mind, or even the emotions struggle to deal with.