inscrutable

CEFRC2

/ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/

adjective

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

01
adjective
Difficult or impossible to understand or explain.
02
adjective
Extra detail
One who or that which is inscrutable; a person, etc. that cannot be comprehended.

Examples

She looked at him with an inscrutable expression.
Chinese people are so inscrutable.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 3
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 4
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.

More examples

In context

His inscrutable theories would years later become the foundation of a whole new science.
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.
She called my vanity license plate inscrutable! 'ICU81MI'? Hilarious!

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

His face remained blank during the test, so no one knew if he was confused or confident.

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Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

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.
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
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.
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
She called my vanity license plate inscrutable! 'ICU81MI'? Hilarious!
2007 October 11, Robert Carlock, “Jack Gets in the Game”, in 30 Rock, season 2, episode 2, spoken by Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan)
The writer Juan Rulfo, whose 1955 novel, “Pedro Páramo,” still stands as the central monument of modern Mexican literature, grew up in Jalisco and vividly depicted its arid, sun-blasted landscapes in his writing, while the architect Luis Barragán, who moved from Guadalajara to Mexico City in the 1930s, carried with him an appreciation for his home state’s cloisters, haciendas and humble country buildings, which he translated in his own work as austere, inscrutable volumes of stucco.
2023 November 17, Michael Snyder, “A Guide to Guadalajara, Mexico’s City of Makers”, in The New York Times Style Magazine, archived from the original on 17 Nov 2023

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Origin

adjective

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

Deep Dive

adjective

More examples

Related

Quick test

His face remained blank— during the test, so no one knew if he was confused or confident.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

His face remained blank during the test, so no one knew if he was confused or confident.