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Definition of inscrutable
: not readily investigated, interpreted, or understood : mysterious an inscrutable smile inscrutable motives
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inscrutable was our Word of the Day on 08/22/2013. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of inscrutable in a Sentence
Of all the myths that have grown up around Alan Greenspan, the most powerful is the idea that he's willfully inscrutable. —James Surowiecki, New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2001
That wily politicians might adopt Franklin's distinction between appearance and reality to become inscrutable confidence men did not seem to trouble him. —John H. Summers, Journal of American History, December 2000
Supersymmetry is a magic mirror, and everything in what we imagine to be the real world has its ghostly, inscrutable mirror image. —Ian Stewart, Prospect, September 2003
an inscrutable work of art
He was a quiet, inscrutable man.
Recent Examples of inscrutable from the Web
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The great American press briefing is an ecosystem with its own traditions and its own inscrutable rules that has survived, in one form or another, for more than a hundred years.
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But the dads most of us grew up with — and without — are a more inscrutable lot.
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But this year would be different, for horrific and fundamentally inscrutable reasons. Shots fired.
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Shopping Cart icon Buy Photo Hundreds of U.S. Navy officers and sailors have lain for decades under the anonymity of inscrutable gravestones at Mount Moriah, a 19th century cemetery whose 380 acres span Southwest Philadelphia and Yeadon Borough.
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Margaret knows, as Michael Corleone does, that gaining dominance means speaking softly and remaining inscrutable.
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Also frustrating is Jaguar’s inscrutable placement of the volume knob on the far side of the center of the dash, near the front-seat passenger’s left knee.
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At first the inside appears similarly uninspired: deep and unfinished, littered with cardboard boxes, plumbing fittings, spools of wire, inscrutable items made of copper, a forklift.
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None, however, possesses the crucial third element of Bartolo Colón, which is an inscrutable Zen equanimity.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'inscrutable'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
You may have to scrutinize this word closely in order to speculate as to its origins, but there is at least one clue in this sentence. Inscrutable derives from the Late Latin adjective inscrutabilis, which can be traced back to the verb scrutari, meaning "to search or to examine." "Scrutari" is also the source of the English words "scrutinize" and "scrutiny." Incidentally, the antonym "scrutable" ("capable of being deciphered or understood") is a part of our language as well, though it's less common than "inscrutable."
Origin and Etymology of inscrutable
Middle English, from Late Latin inscrutabilis, from Latin in- + scrutari to search — more at scrutiny
INSCRUTABLE Defined for English Language Learners
inscrutable
playDefinition of inscrutable for English Language Learners
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: difficult to understand : causing people to feel curious or confused
Learn More about inscrutable
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See words that rhyme with inscrutable Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for inscrutable Spanish Central: Translation of inscrutable Nglish: Translation of inscrutable for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of inscrutable for Arabic speakers
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