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View synonyms for inscrutable

inscrutable

[ in-skroo-tuh-buhl ]

adjective

  1. incapable of being investigated, analyzed, or scrutinized; impenetrable.

    Synonyms: undiscoverable, inexplicable, incomprehensible, hidden

    Antonyms: comprehensible

  2. not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable:

    an inscrutable smile.

  3. incapable of being seen through physically; physically impenetrable:

    the inscrutable depths of the ocean.



inscrutable

/ ɪnˈskruːtəbəl /

adjective

  1. incomprehensible; mysterious or enigmatic
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • inˌscrutaˈbility, noun
  • inˈscrutably, adverb
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Other Words From

  • in·scruta·bili·ty in·scruta·ble·ness noun
  • in·scruta·bly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of inscrutable1

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word inscrūtābilis. See in- 3, scrutable
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Word History and Origins

Origin of inscrutable1

C15: from Late Latin inscrūtābilis, from Latin in- 1+ scrūtārī to examine
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

It also serves as an MRI into the inner life of Didion, who has been somewhat of a frustratingly inscrutable presence.

“Bill got to the core of Johnny as much as anybody was going to, but he was in many ways an inscrutable guy.”

“Grotesquerie” may have been inscrutable to most of us when it began, but its star and executive producer, Niecy Nash-Betts, knew exactly where it was going, and the importance of staying mum about it.

From Salon

A good opera “speaks to something specific about the human condition, and isn’t just some dull, remote, inscrutable museum piece,” he told Salon.

From Salon

It’s a descriptor for “an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person’s thoughts or feelings.”

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