Standard Lemma guide

inexplicable

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌɪn.ɪkˈsplɪ.kə.bl̩/
  • /ɪnˈɛk.splɪ.kə.bəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N AH0 K S P L IH1 S AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inexplainable, unexplainable, insoluble, abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, Greek, inapprehensible, incognizable, incomprehensible, ineffable, inenubilable, inexplicable, impenetrable, insensible, inscrutable, insolvable, mysterious, nonunderstandable, obscure, retruse, tenebrose, thick, undecipherable, undiscoverable, unfathomable, ungraspable, unintelligible, unknowable, ununderstandable

Antonyms: explicable, apprehensible, clear, limpid, comprehensible, explainable, explicatable, fathomable, graspable, illuminable, intelligible, lucid, pellucid, perspicuous, straightforward, tangible, understandable

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something that is impossible to explain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inexplicability

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

incapable of being explained or accounted for

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • inexplicable errors
  • left the house at three in the morning for inexplicable reasons

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: incomprehensible

Antonyms: explicable

History

Etymology

From Middle English inexplicable, from Middle French inexplicable, from Latin inexplicābilis, from in- (“not”) + explicābilis (“explicable”). By surface analysis, in- + explicable.

Across languages

Translations

54 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: i pashpjegueshëm — impossible to explain
  • Asturian: inesplicable — impossible to explain
  • Belarusian: невытлумача́льны (njevytlumačálʹny) — impossible to explain
  • Bulgarian: необясни́м (neobjasním) — impossible to explain
  • Catalan: inexplicable — impossible to explain
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不能說明的 /不能说明的 (bùnéng shuōmíng de) — impossible to explain
  • Czech: nevysvětlitelný — impossible to explain
  • Danish: uforklarlig — impossible to explain
  • Dutch: onverklaarbaar — impossible to explain
  • Esperanto: neklarigebla — impossible to explain
  • Finnish: selittämätön — impossible to explain
  • Finnish: käsittämätön — impossible to explain
  • French: inexplicable — impossible to explain
  • Galician: inexplicable — impossible to explain
  • Galician: inexplicábel — impossible to explain
  • German: unerklärlich — impossible to explain
  • Greek: ανεξήγητος (anexígitos) — impossible to explain
  • Ancient Greek: δύσφραστος (dúsphrastos) — impossible to explain
  • Hungarian: megmagyarázhatatlan — impossible to explain
  • Icelandic: óútskýranlegur — impossible to explain
  • Italian: inspiegabile — impossible to explain
  • Italian: incomprensibile — impossible to explain
  • Italian: inesplicabile — impossible to explain
  • Japanese: 割り切れない (warikirenai) — impossible to explain
  • Japanese: 不可解な (fukakai na) — impossible to explain
  • Japanese: 説明がつかない (setsumei ga tsukanai) — impossible to explain
  • Korean: 불가해하다 (bulgahaehada) — impossible to explain
  • Korean: 설명할 수 없다 (seolmyeonghal su eopda) — impossible to explain
  • Latin: inēnōdābilis — impossible to explain
  • Lithuanian: nesuprantamas — impossible to explain
  • Macedonian: необјаснив (neobjasniv) — impossible to explain
  • Manx: neuhoilsheydagh — impossible to explain
  • Manx: neureaghee — impossible to explain
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uforklarlig — impossible to explain
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: uforklarleg — impossible to explain
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: uforklårleg — impossible to explain
  • Occitan: inexplicable — impossible to explain
  • Old English: unāreccendlīċ — impossible to explain
  • Polish: niewytłumaczalny — impossible to explain
  • Portuguese: inexplicável — impossible to explain
  • Romanian: inexplicabil — impossible to explain
  • Romanian: neexplicabil — impossible to explain
  • Russian: необъясни́мый (neobʺjasnímyj) — impossible to explain
  • Serbo-Croatian: необја̀шњив — impossible to explain
  • Serbo-Croatian: neobjàšnjiv — impossible to explain
  • Slovak: nevysvetliteľný — impossible to explain
  • Slovene: nerazložljiv — impossible to explain
  • Spanish: inexplicable — impossible to explain
  • Swedish: oförklarlig — impossible to explain
  • Thai: ที่อธิบายไม่ได้ (tîi à-tí-baai mâi-dâi) — impossible to explain
  • Turkish: açıklanamaz — impossible to explain
  • Ukrainian: непоясни́мий (nepojasnýmyj) — impossible to explain
  • Ukrainian: непоясне́нний (nepojasnénnyj) — impossible to explain
  • Welsh: anesboniadwy — impossible to explain