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inscrutable

 - 3 dictionary results

in⋅scru⋅ta⋅ble

[in-skroo-tuh-buhl]
–adjective
1. incapable of being investigated, analyzed, or scrutinized; impenetrable.
2. not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable: an inscrutable smile.
3. incapable of being seen through physically; physically impenetrable: the inscrutable depths of the ocean.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < LL inscrūtābilis. See in- 3 , scrutable


in⋅scru⋅ta⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, in⋅scru⋅ta⋅ble⋅ness, noun
in⋅scru⋅ta⋅bly, adverb


1. hidden, incomprehensible, undiscoverable, inexplicable. See mysterious.


1. comprehensible.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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in·scru·ta·ble   (ĭn-skrōō'tə-bəl)   
adj.  Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. See Synonyms at mysterious.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin īnscrūtābilis : in-, not; see in-1 + scrūtārī, to scrutinize; see scrutiny.]
in·scru'ta·bil'i·ty, in·scru'ta·ble·ness n., in·scru'ta·bly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

inscrutable 
c.1450, from L.L. inscrutabilis, from in- "not" + scrutari "examine, ransack" (see scrutiny).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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