1
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain
the many inscrutable beliefs of that ancient religion
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2
as in ambiguous
having an often intentionally veiled or uncertain meaning
ancient oracles typically uttered inscrutable prophecies that could be interpreted almost any way one chose
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Recent Examples of inscrutable
Putin, by all accounts, runs an inscrutable if strongman geopolitical playbook.
—
Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2025
But how much of your personality—a mercurial phenomenon—is deterministic, a set of probabilities that are no more inscrutable to algorithms than the arrangement of pieces on a chessboard?
—Webb Wright, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2025
Nevala-Lee’s previous biography was on Buckminster Fuller, architect, futurist, longtime professor at Southern Illinois University, but also an infamously obtuse, inscrutable mansplainer’s mansplainer — his lectures seemed to go on for days.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025
Getting to the bottom of, say, the seed-oil controversy requires engaging with thorny scientific debates that reference inscrutable research papers; embracing the natural and ancestral by opting for tallow is an attractively simple-seeming alternative.
—Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2025
But how much of your personality—a mercurial phenomenon—is deterministic, a set of probabilities that are no more inscrutable to algorithms than the arrangement of pieces on a chessboard?
—Webb Wright, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2025
Nevala-Lee’s previous biography was on Buckminster Fuller, architect, futurist, longtime professor at Southern Illinois University, but also an infamously obtuse, inscrutable mansplainer’s mansplainer — his lectures seemed to go on for days.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025
Getting to the bottom of, say, the seed-oil controversy requires engaging with thorny scientific debates that reference inscrutable research papers; embracing the natural and ancestral by opting for tallow is an attractively simple-seeming alternative.
—Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inscrutable
Adjective
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With the head of the Demon Corps in danger, Tanjiro and the Hashira rush to the headquarters but are plunged into a deep descent to a mysterious space by the hands of Muzan Kibutsuji.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Beyond this, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-Ray observatory also studied this spiral galaxy repeatedly and found mysterious regions known as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs).—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Unlike Europe's clear regulatory framework under PSD2, American enterprises operate in a more ambiguous environment where implementation decisions must account for evolving compliance requirements and uncertain regulatory timelines.—
Dave Glaser,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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Dani's on-again, off-again relationship with playboy photographer Andre — who's also her sister's ex's nephew — has become more ambiguous than ever in recent weeks.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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These fish, known for their cryptic behavior, were identified as a neonative species, expanding their range naturally.—
Real-Time News team,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ars reached out to Google for an explanation, receiving a cryptic and somewhat unsatisfying reply.—
Ryan Whitwam,
ArsTechnica,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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For instance, in a now obscure 1944 speech, Franklin Delano Roosevelt argued that the American Revolution remained an incomplete project.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Sep. 2025
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Department and team-level metrics expose inefficiency that company-wide averages often obscure.—
Heidi Farris,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Acclaimed country musician Orville Peck will make his film debut in Street Fighter as the enigmatic Vega, a masked fighter with a freaky set of Freddy Krueger claws.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Sep. 2025
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One of Al Pacino’s finest performances of the 1970s — which, with the Godfather films and Serpico, is an absurd hot hand — is as the enigmatic, wild-eyed Sonny, a man who performs a desperate bank robbery with his partner (the late John Cazale, by turns heartbreakingly clueless and dopily funny).—
Christina Newland,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Of course, the resemblance was uncanny, from their matching smiles to their auburn-red hair, which Julia wore down in loose waves and Emma styled in a messy ponytail.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
11 Sep. 2025
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The job requires an uncanny ability to sell each bit of incremental progress as a success in and of itself.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Interestingly, Lorraine has taught Judy to ward off her frightening visions by using a nursery rhyme, effectively teaching her to suppress her dark side.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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The Dolphins wear white jerseys at home for afternoon games, forcing opponents to wear darker colors that absorb more heat.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Yet Blanc’s real faith lies in the nearly mystic quality involved in seeing what the human animal is capable of.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
7 Sep. 2025
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Yeats’s spirals, once dismissed as the wild diagrams of a mystic, now settle over this place like soot.—
Alaa Alqaisi
August 13,
Literary Hub,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inscrutable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inscrutable. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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