Inscrutable definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INSCRU'TABLE, a. [L. inscrutabilis; in and scrutor, to search.]
1. Unsearchable; that cannot be searched into and understood by inquiry or study. The designs of the emperor appear to be inscrutable.
2. That cannot be penetrated, discovered or understood by human reason. The ways of Providence are often inscrutable. Mysteries are inscrutable.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of an obscure nature; "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"- Rachel Carson; "rituals totally mystifying to visitors from other lands" [syn: cryptic, cryptical, deep, inscrutable, mysterious, mystifying]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin inscrutabilis, from Latin in- + scrutari to search — more at scrutiny Date: 15th century not readily investigated, interpreted, or understood ; mysterious <an inscrutable smile> <inscrutable motives> • inscrutability noun • inscrutableness noun • inscrutably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. wholly mysterious, impenetrable. Derivatives: inscrutability n. inscrutableness n. inscrutably adv. Etymology: ME f. eccl.L inscrutabilis (as IN-(1), scrutari search: see SCRUTINY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inscrutable In*scru"ta*ble, a. [L. inscrutabilis : cf. F. inscrutable. See In- not, and Scrutiny.] Unsearchable; incapable of being searched into and understood by inquiry or study; impossible or difficult to be explained or accounted for satisfactorily; obscure; incomprehensible; as, an inscrutable design or event. 'T is not in man To yield a reason for the will of Heaven Which is inscrutable. --Beau. & Fl. Waiving a question so inscrutable as this. --De Quincey.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If a person or their expression is inscrutable, it is very hard to know what they are really thinking or what they mean. In public he remained inscrutable. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Undiscoverable, unsearchable, impenetrable, incomprehensible, inexplicable, unfathomable, hidden, mysterious, past comprehension, above comprehension, not to be understood.

Moby Thesaurus

Greek to one, ambiguous, arcane, beyond understanding, cabalistic, impenetrable, inarticulate, incognizable, incoherent, incomprehensible, mystic, numinous, past comprehension, rambling, unaccountable, unconnected, unfathomable, unguessed, unintelligible, unknowable, unsearchable