unfathomable

[ uhn-fath-uh-muh-buhl ]

adjective

1. not able to be fathomed, or completely understood; incomprehensible:

   heroism in the face of unfathomable conflict.

2. not able to be measured with a sounding line, or fathomed:

   unfathomable depths of the ocean.

unfathomable

/ ʌnˈfæðəməbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being fathomed; immeasurable
2. incomprehensible

Derived Forms

• unˈfathomableness, noun
• unˈfathomably, adverb

Other Words From

• un·fathom·a·ble·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unfathomable¹

First recorded in 1610–20; un- ¹( def ) + fathom ( def ) + -able ( def )

Example Sentences

Huge metal containers – broken free from their articulated lorries – rested at unfathomable angles amid a jumble of cars, crumpled furniture and treacherous mud.

From BBC

Then, around 4:30 p.m., the nightmare scenario that was unfathomable just a few hours earlier became reality.

From Los Angeles Times

That is why it is unfathomable that it did not do the same thing for Roberson.

From Slate

And while it appears the Biden administration is treating the impact of this season’s hurricanes as it should, the media’s focus on the almost unfathomable catastrophe in the western mountains of swing state North Carolina is a stark contrast to the near-total absence of attention to what’s going on just over the state line in deep-red Tennessee—complete with the obligatory analyses of how the hurricane’s aftermath might impact the outcome in the Tar Heel State.

From Slate

“Following the attacks on Oct. 7, our campus faced an unfathomable campus climate that made it very difficult for Jewish students, Jewish faculty and other members of the Jewish community to feel comfortable expressing their Judaism, never mind their connections to Israel,” Dan Gold, executive director of Hillel at UCLA, said to the audience before the reading began.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• baffling
• impenetrable
• incomprehensible
• indecipherable
• inexplicable
• unknowable