inscrutableadj.n.
/ɪnˈskruːtəb(ə)l/ A. adj.
a. That cannot be searched into or found out by searching; impenetrable or unfathomable to investigation; quite unintelligible, entirely mysterious.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [adjective]
uncouthc897
unnimlyc1225
incomprehensiblea1340
unsearchablec1384
unknowable?c1400
investigablea1425
uncomprehensiblea1425
unthinkablec1445
imperscrutablec1450
inscrutablec1450
inopinable?a1475
incomprenable1502
unspectable?1504
incogitablec1522
uncogitable1529
impenetrable1531
inimaginable1534
inexplicable1555
unsensible1555
unscrutable1562
unfashionable1563
unpenetrable1581
unexcogitable1592
ineffable1598
inexcogitable1599
indivinable1603
ininvestigable1604
incapable1605
searchless?1606
uncomprehensive1609
unconceivable1611
undivinable1611
unimaginable1611
unexplicable1615
unintelligible1616
unapprehensible?1617
unfathomable1617
imprehensible1622
ununderstandablea1631
indeprehensible1633
indiscernible1635
inscrute1639
inapprehensiblea1641
indiscoverable1640
unexaminable1641
impervestigable1643
fathomless1645
inconceivable1646
indeterminable1646
inexplorable1646
insearchable1647
incomprehended1652
comprehendlessa1654
incomprehensive1656
untraceable1661
uninvestigablea1677
unintelligent1683
incognoscible1691
thought-transcendinga1711
uncognizable1720
acataleptic1727
undescriptive1744
elusive1751
impalpable1781
inaccessible1796
unconjecturable1806
uncognoscible1821
unascertainable1827
unfixable1831
unguessable1832
unrealizable1832
unsurveyable1833
hard-shelled1835
unintellective1837
undeemed1845
graspless1849
unconjectured1850
incognizable1852
ungraspable1853
unreadable1853
super-cerebral1854
elusory1856
trans-conscious1865
intangible1880
uncatchable1892
unspelt1892
unplumbable1895
unknowledgeable1920
indiscutable1933
c1450 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi iii. lv. 131 I haue lerned herby to drede þin inscrutable iugement.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection Pref. sig. aiiii The hert of man is inscrutable, and onely god knoweth it.
1602 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xiii. lxxix. 327 O Essence more inscrutable, than All compaierd to it.
1661 A. Cowley Vision Cromwell 43 The inscrutable mysteries of Eternal Providence.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vii. xxvi. 191 You are a pair of inscrutable, unfathomable, fashionable Philosophers.
1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe II. ii. 107 The doctrine of the Trinity, which theologians agree to call inscrutable, but which they do not fail to define and analyse with the most confident dogmatism.
1870 B. Disraeli Lothair (new ed.) liii That countenance was always inscrutable.
1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 155 At the present moment the ultimate origin of Mind is as inscrutable a mystery as the origin of Life.
b. Rarely of things physical, as an abyss: Impenetrable, unfathomable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > [adjective] > relating to exploration of a place > explored > not > not able to be
inscrutable1820
unexplorable1859
1820 C. Lamb in London Mag. Dec. 624/1 Deep holes, inscrutable cavities of the earth.
1858 N. Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. I. 142 The guide..held his torch down into an inscrutable pit beneath our feet.
B. n.
plural. Inscrutable things.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [noun] > instance of
lock1563
incomprehensibility1651
inscrutables1665
incomprehensible1678
inconceivable1706
I know not what1711
unknowable1725
unsearchable1725
indefinable1810
a sealed book1814
unknowable1816
unintelligible1838
inconceivability1851
imponderable1855
inscrutablenessa1864
unfathomability1867
unthinkable1871
closed book1913
intangible1914
imponderabilia1925
generation gap1962
1665 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies (ed. 2) 282 There are Mysteries in Religion, Depths in Providence, Inscrutables in Nature.
1704 D. Defoe Storm i. 8 The Winds are some of those Inscrutables of Nature, in which humane Search has not yet been able to arrive at any Demonstration.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.n.c1450