inexplicable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inexplicable
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Latin word inexplicābilis. See in- 3, explicable
Explanation
Something inexplicable can't be explained. It doesn't make sense. You don't want to come to the beach on the most beautiful day of the year? That's inexplicable! Inexplicable is made up of the prefix in, which means "not," and explicable, which comes from the Latin explicabilis, meaning "unfolded, unraveled." Do you see the double negative? If something is not unfolded, it's folded up and tangled — like something that doesn't make sense. Your school's decision to call a snow day is inexplicable, if there's barely a layer of snow on the ground.
Vocabulary lists containing inexplicable
A Christmas Carol
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List 5
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The Scarlet Letter
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As strange, inexplicable happenings begin to disrupt the recording session—a mysteriously opening door, a sudden appearance of a menacing masked figure in the booth—Lucas begins to lose his emotional equilibrium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Confronted with the inexplicable, Morewedge says, we instinctively turn to the “incredible psychological machinery that we have for thinking about how people behave.”
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
The second I turned 50, I just felt an inexplicable comfort in my own skin that I never felt before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Judge Huw Rees said it was "inexplicable" why someone would want to drive at such "extreme" speeds, let alone why a car would be capable of achieving those speeds.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
His face was arresting, sensitive, medieval in some strange inexplicable way, and I was reminded of a portrait seen in a gallery I had forgotten where, of a certain Gentleman Unknown.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
