From the Greek apophasis: negation. Apophatic theology denies what God is not, rather than affirming what He would be or even is (cataphatic theology).

The key idea is that the Absolute transcends human understanding and linguistic concepts. An example of this is in-finite, where the negation of the finite enables us to approach the notion of infinity indirectly. Such an approach can be seen in Christianity (St. Denys the Areopagite, Meister Eckhart…), Sufism (al-Ghazālī…), Jewish Kabbalah and Hinduism (the “Neti Neti”, “neither this nor that”, of the Upanishads and the Avadhuta Gita approaching an understanding of the nature of Brahman by denying all that is not Him).