Standard Lemma guide

inscrutable

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.

  • /ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N S K R UW1 T AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • His inscrutable theories would years later become the foundation of a whole new science.

Meaning relationships

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

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

of an obscure nature- Rachel Carson

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms
  • a deep dark secret
  • the inscrutable workings of Providence
  • in its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life
  • rituals totally mystifying to visitors from other lands

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cryptic, cryptical, deep, mysterious, mystifying

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: غامِض (ḡāmiḍ) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Arabic: غَلِق (ḡaliq) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Arabic: مُبْهَم (mubham) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Arabic: مُسْتَغْلِق (mustaḡliq) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Bulgarian: неразгадаем (nerazgadaem) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Catalan: inescrutable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Catalan: insondable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不可理解的 (bùkě lǐjiě de) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Danish: uransagelig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Danish: uudgrundelig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Danish: gådefuld — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Danish: ubegribelig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Danish: ufattelig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Danish: uforståelig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Dutch: ondoorgrondelijk — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Finnish: käsittämätön — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • French: impénétrable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • French: incompréhensible — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • French: insondable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Galician: inescrutábel — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • German: undurchschaubar — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Greek: ακατανόητος (akatanóitos) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Hindi: दुरधिगम (durdhigam) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Hindi: दुर्ज्ञेय (durjñey) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Hindi: दुर्बोध (durbodh) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Hindi: गूढ़ (gūṛh) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Hindi: दुरत्यय (duratyay) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Hungarian: kifürkészhetetlen — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Italian: impenetrabile — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Italian: incomprensibile — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Italian: insondabile — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Latin: perplexus — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Manx: neuronsoilagh — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uutgrunnelig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Portuguese: inescrutável — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Romanian: inscrutabil — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Romanian: neexaminabil — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Romanian: necercetabil — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Romanian: neanchetabil — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Romanian: de necercetat — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Russian: зага́дочный (zagádočnyj) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Russian: непостижи́мый (nepostižímyj) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Russian: необъясни́мый (neobʺjasnímyj) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Russian: непоня́тный (neponjátnyj) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Russian: неисповеди́мый (neispovedímyj) — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Spanish: inescrutable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Spanish: impenetrable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Spanish: incomprensible — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Spanish: insondable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Spanish: inscrutable — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Swedish: outgrundlig — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Turkish: anlaşılmaz — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Turkish: esrarlı — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Turkish: gizemli — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret
  • Turkish: esrârengiz — difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret