inscrutable

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

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Hyphenation: in‧scrut‧able

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!

• inscrutability
• inscrutableness
• inscrutably

• scrutiny

• inexplorable

inscrutable (plural inscrutables)

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

• 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, page 329.