inscrutable

English

WOTD – 12 February 2011

Etymology

Borrowed into late Middle English from Late Latin īnscrūtābilis, from in- (“not”) + scrūtō (“to examine”), corresponding to in- +‎ scrutable

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/
Audio (AU) (file)
Hyphenation: in‧scrut‧able

Adjective

inscrutable (comparative more inscrutable, superlative most inscrutable)

Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.
Synonyms: ineffable; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
His inscrutable theories would years later become the foundation of a whole new science.
- 1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XXIV. Lucy at the Apostles’.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 12230558, section IV, page 445:
  The pale, inscrutable determinateness, and flinchless intrepidity of Pierre, now began to domineer upon them; for any social unusualness or greatness is sometimes most impressive in the retrospect.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], OCLC 1042815524, part I, page 211, column 1:
  It was unconscious, this smile was, though just after he had said something it got intensified for an instant. It came at the end of his speeches like a seal applied on the words to make the meaning of the commonest phrase appear absolutely inscrutable.
- 2007 October 11, Robert Carlock, “Jack Gets in the Game”, in 30 Rock, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan):
  She called my vanity license plate inscrutable! 'ICU81MI'? Hilarious!

Derived terms

inscrutability
inscrutableness
inscrutably

Translations

difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret

Arabic: غامِض‎ (ḡāmiḍ), غَلِق‎ (ḡaliq), مُبْهَم‎ (mubham), مُسْتَغْلِق‎ (mustaḡliq)
Bulgarian: неразгадаем (bg) (nerazgadaem)
Catalan: inescrutable (ca), insondable (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不可理解的 (bùkě lǐjiě de)
Danish: uransagelig, uudgrundelig, gådefuld, ubegribelig, ufattelig, uforståelig
Dutch: ondoorgrondelijk (nl)
Finnish: käsittämätön (fi)
French: impénétrable (fr), incompréhensible (fr), insondable (fr)
Galician: inescrutábel (gl) m or f
German: undurchschaubar (de)
Greek: ακατανόητος (el) (akatanóitos)
Italian: impenetrabile (it), incomprensibile (it), insondabile
Latin: perplexus
Manx: neuronsoilagh
Norwegian:
Bokmål: uutgrunnelig
Portuguese: inescrutável (pt)
Romanian: inscrutabil, neexaminabil, necercetabil, neanchetabil, de necercetat
Russian: зага́дочный (ru) (zagádočnyj), непостижимый (ru) (nepostižimyj), необъяснимый (ru) (neobʺjasnimyj), непоня́тный (ru) (neponjátnyj), неисповеди́мый (ru) (neispovedímyj)
Spanish: inescrutable (es), impenetrable, incomprensible (es), insondable (es)
Swedish: outgrundlig (sv)
Turkish: anlaşılmaz (tr), esrarlı (tr), gizemli (tr), esrârengiz

Noun

inscrutable (plural inscrutables)

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

References

James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Inscrutable”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume V (H–K), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 329.