inscrutable

WOTD - 12 February 2011    

English

Etymology

From the Latin inscrutabilis, from in- (“not”) + scrutare (“to examine”), corresponding to in- +‎ scrutable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌɪnˈskruːtəbl/, SAMPA: /%In"skru:t@bl/

Adjective

inscrutable (comparative more inscrutable, superlative most inscrutable)

1. Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.

   His inscrutable theories would years later become the foundation of a whole new science.

   • 2007, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), 30 Rock:

     She called my vanity license plate inscrutable! 'ICU81MI'? Hilarious!

Synonyms

• (difficult to comprehend): ineffable

Translations

difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret

Arabic: غامِض (ar), غَلِق (ar), مُبْهَم (ar), مُسْتَغْلِق (ar) Catalan: inescrutable (ca), insondable (ca) Finnish: käsittämätön (fi) French: impénétrable (fr), incompréhensible (fr), insondable (fr) German: undurchschaubar (de) Greek: ακατανόητος (el) (akatanóitos) Italian: impenetrabile (it), incomprensibile (it), insondabile (it)

Manx: neuronsoilagh (gv) Romanian: inscrutabil (ro) m. and n., neexaminabil (ro) m. and n., necercetabil (ro), neanchetabil (ro), de necercetat (ro) m., f., and n. Russian: загадочный (ru), непостижимый (ru), необъяснимый (ru), непонятный (ru) Spanish: inescrutable (es), impenetrable (es), incomprensible (es), insondable (es) Swedish: outgrundlig (sv) Turkish: anlaşılmaz (tr), esrarlı (tr), gizemli (tr), esrârengiz (tr)

Derived terms

• inscrutability
• inscrutableness
• inscrutably

See also

• inexplorable