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)

1. 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, 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, 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)
• Hindi: दुरधिगम (hi) (durdhigam), दुर्ज्ञेय (hi) (durjñey), दुर्बोध (hi) (durbodh), गूढ़ (hi) (gūṛh), दुरत्यय (hi) (duratyay)
• 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

See also

• inexplorable

Noun

inscrutable (plural inscrutables)

1. 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), volumes V (H–K), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 329.