inscrutable

WOTD – 12 February 2011    

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl/, X-SAMPA: /%In"skr\u: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) (zagadočnyj), непостижимый (ru) (nepostižimyj), необъяснимый (ru) (neobʺjasnimyj), непонятный (ru) (neponjatnyj)
• 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

Noun

inscrutable (plural inscrutables)

1. One who or that which is inscrutable; a person, etc. that cannot be comprehended.