inscrutable

/in'skru:təbl/

Thân thiện

The detective studied the suspect's inscrutable expression.

Definition

Adjective: 1. Impossible to understand or interpret; mysterious: Describes something that is extremely difficult or impossible to comprehend, explain, or see into. 2. Not readily investigated, interpreted, or understood: Often used to describe a person's expression, motives, or something complex and hidden, like the workings of fate or nature.

Usage and Examples

• Describing a person's expression or nature:
  • She maintained an inscrutable smile throughout the interview, giving nothing away.
  • The old man had an inscrutable face, weathered by time and experience.
• Describing abstract concepts or phenomena:
  • The inscrutable workings of the universe have fascinated philosophers for centuries.
  • To an outsider, the local customs were completely inscrutable.

Advanced Usage

• "Remain inscrutable": To continue to be impossible to read or understand.
  • Despite the intense questioning, the witness remained inscrutable.
• "Inscrutable to someone": Indicating who finds something impossible to understand.
  • The ancient text is inscrutable to modern scholars without the proper key.

Variants and Related Words

• Inscrutability (noun): The quality of being inscrutable.
  • The inscrutability of his motives made him a dangerous ally.
• Inscrutably (adverb): In an inscrutable manner.
  • He nodded inscrutably, leaving us to guess his true opinion.

Synonyms

• Enigmatic: Mysterious and difficult to understand.
• Impenetrable: Impossible to pass through or understand.
• Unfathomable: Incapable of being fully explored or understood.
• Cryptic: Having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure.

Antonyms

• Transparent: Easy to perceive or detect; obvious.
• Comprehensible: Able to be understood; intelligible.
• Readable: Easy or interesting to read; (of a person's expression) clear and interpretable.

Idioms and Phrases

• An inscrutable smile/face/expression: A common collocation describing a look that hides true thoughts or feelings.
  • He met the accusation with an inscrutable smile, revealing neither guilt nor innocence.

Học thuật

Adjective

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

Từ đồng nghĩa

• cryptic
• cryptical
• deep
• mysterious
• mystifying