inscrutability

C2 Topic:Mind & Cognition
US /ɪnˌskruːtəˈbɪləti/ UK /ɪnˌskruːtəˈbɪləti/
noun Freq #246361

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    the quality of being difficult or impossible to understand or interpret

    The witness's calm expression had an unsettling inscrutability.

  2. 2
    noun

    the quality of being impossible to investigate

    the inscrutability of the future

  3. 3
    noun

    The condition of being inscrutable

    What about Mrs. Cavendish? I watched her as she sat at the head of the table, graceful, composed, enigmatic. In her soft grey frock, with white ruffles at the wrists falling over her slender hands, she looked very beautiful. When she chose, however, her face could be sphinx-like in its inscrutability.

  4. 4
    noun

    Something that is inscrutable.

    the inscrutabilities of advanced mathematics

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · the quality of being... mysteriousnessopacity
Word family
Related forms inscrutablenessinscrutably

Etymology

From inscrutable + -ity. Inscrutable comes from Late Latin inscrutabilis, 'unsearchable,' formed from in- ('not') + scrutari ('to search or examine').

Topics

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