Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. See Synonyms at mysterious.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Incapable of being searched into or scrutinized; impenetrable to inquiry or investigation; incognizable: as, the ways of Providence are often inscrutable.
- Synonyms Impenetrable, undiscoverable, incomprehensible, unsearchable, mysterious.
Wiktionary
- adj. Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.
- n. One who or that which is inscrutable; a person, etc. that cannot be comprehended.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Unsearchable; incapable of being searched into and understood by inquiry or study; impossible or difficult to be explained or accounted for satisfactorily; obscure; incomprehensible.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. of an obscure nature
Etymologies
- From the Latin inscrutabilis, from in- ("not") + scrutare ("to examine"), corresponding to in- + scrutable (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin īnscrūtābilis : in-, not; see in-1 + scrūtārī, to scrutinize; see scrutiny. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Jamie gazed down at her, his expression inscrutable.”
“She was watching me, her expression inscrutable, somehow aloof and intimate all at once.”
“She turned to find him still standing in the exact same spot, his expression inscrutable.”
“His stark blue eyes were locked on her, his expression inscrutable.”
““My path is clear to me,” he said, his expression inscrutable.”
Simon & Schuster: Kresley Cole Immortals After Dark: The Clan MacRieve
“He gazed down at her, black lashes partially obscuring obsidian eyes, their expression inscrutable.”
“She tried to imagine how Giovanni would look now, but all she could see was Marco across the table, his handsome face impassive, his expression inscrutable.”
“He began to think that perhaps the word "inscrutable" had been coined expressly for her.”
“She sat next to him at the bar, her expression inscrutable, looking crisp and as cool as her coloring would allow in pale trousers and a cinnamon cotton shirt.”
“A compact little man came out and moved the suitcases and the table around in inscrutable silence for 40 minutes.”
The Guardian: Stewart Lee: The best performance I've ever seen
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘inscrutable’.
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 636 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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501
Classic
bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august and 401 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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Introverted
Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
abashed, alienated, alone, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, clannish and 91 more...
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SAT words
tergiversate, cymotrichous, vigilance, wince, consternation, cower, neutralize, euphony, cacophony, misanthrope, bibliophile, kleptomania and 81 more...
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GRE Practice
coruscate, preternatural, preclude, retrench, perfidy, sophistry, sedulous, martinet, churlish, dissembler, prevarication, impugn and 38 more...
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fav1
ostensibly, fait accompli, edification, machination, vamp, abstruse, ebullient, tantamount, reductio, asymptotic, ad hominem, syllogism and 15 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1832 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for inscrutable.
yarb Good one! Nov 6, 2009
jorge999 Those Catholic girls liked to tease, but without a ring they were inscrutable Nov 6, 2009