inscrutable
Americanadjective
-
incapable of being investigated, analyzed, or scrutinized; impenetrable.
- Synonyms:
- inexplicable, undiscoverable, incomprehensible, hidden
- Antonyms:
- comprehensible
-
not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable.
an inscrutable smile.
-
incapable of being seen through physically; physically impenetrable.
the inscrutable depths of the ocean.
adjective
Related Words
See mysterious.
Other Word Forms
- inscrutability noun
- inscrutableness noun
- inscrutably adverb
Etymology
Origin of inscrutable
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word inscrūtābilis. See in- 3, scrutable
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.
Though the diary entry concedes that Mansfield was “so intelligent & inscrutable that she repays friendship,” the two women wouldn’t become friends.
She wore navy silk riding clothes, and sapphires, and an expression as inscrutable as the sea.
From Literature
There’s a stilted quality to the conversation as they discuss their eccentric, inscrutable dad.
From Los Angeles Times
He sat and stared at his screen, positioned away from the audience, as inscrutable as someone at a cafe working on a laptop.
From Los Angeles Times
Although Leo is more inscrutable than Francis, Catholics are beginning to get a better sense of the man beneath the cassock.
Definitions 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.
