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inscrutable. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
inscrutable, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
inscrutable in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
inscrutable you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Borrowed into late Middle English from Late Latin īnscrūtābilis, from in- (“not”) + scrūtō (“to examine”), corresponding to in- + scrutable
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/
- Hyphenation: in‧scrut‧able
Adjective
inscrutable (comparative more inscrutable, superlative most inscrutable)
- Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.
- Synonyms: ineffable; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
His inscrutable theories would years later become the foundation of a whole new science.
1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XXIV. Lucy at the Apostles’.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, , →OCLC, section IV, page 445:The pale, inscrutable determinateness, and flinchless intrepidity of Pierre, now began to domineer upon them; for any social unusualness or greatness is sometimes most impressive in the retrospect.
1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, , →OCLC, part I, page 211, column 1:It was unconscious, this smile was, though just after he had said something it got intensified for an instant. It came at the end of his speeches like a seal applied on the words to make the meaning of the commonest phrase appear absolutely inscrutable.
Derived terms
Translations
difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
- Arabic: غامِض (ḡāmiḍ), غَلِق (ḡaliq), مُبْهَم (mubham), مُسْتَغْلِق (mustaḡliq)
- Bulgarian: неразгадаем (bg) (nerazgadaem)
- Catalan: inescrutable (ca), insondable (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 不可理解的 (bùkě lǐjiě de)
- Danish: uransagelig, uudgrundelig, gådefuld, ubegribelig, ufattelig, uforståelig
- Dutch: ondoorgrondelijk (nl)
- Finnish: käsittämätön (fi)
- French: impénétrable (fr), incompréhensible (fr), insondable (fr)
- Galician: inescrutábel (gl) m or f
- German: undurchschaubar (de)
- Greek: ακατανόητος (el) (akatanóitos)
- Hindi: दुरधिगम (hi) (durdhigam), दुर्ज्ञेय (hi) (durjñey), दुर्बोध (hi) (durbodh), गूढ़ (hi) (gūṛh), दुरत्यय (hi) (duratyay)
- Italian: impenetrabile (it), incomprensibile (it), insondabile
- Latin: perplexus
- Manx: neuronsoilagh
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: uutgrunnelig
- Portuguese: inescrutável (pt)
- Romanian: inscrutabil, neexaminabil, necercetabil, neanchetabil, de necercetat
- Russian: зага́дочный (ru) (zagádočnyj), непостижимый (ru) (nepostižimyj), необъяснимый (ru) (neobʺjasnimyj), непоня́тный (ru) (neponjátnyj), неисповеди́мый (ru) (neispovedímyj)
- Spanish: inescrutable (es), impenetrable, incomprensible (es), insondable (es)
- Swedish: outgrundlig (sv)
- Turkish: anlaşılmaz (tr), esrarlı (tr), gizemli (tr), esrârengiz
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See also
Noun
inscrutable (plural inscrutables)
- One who or that which is inscrutable; a person, etc. that cannot be comprehended.
References