1
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain
the many inscrutable beliefs of that ancient religion
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of inscrutable
Something inscrutable flashes behind those keen hazel eyes.
—
Shyla Watson,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
The unavoidable comparison here is with Pelé, sporting excellence personified but also inscrutable, even a little remote.
—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
Some of these attacks come from the left, or from people with inscrutable worldviews.
—
Juliette Kayyem,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2026
The cult status Drain Gang commands online has created an inscrutable, near-mythical air around its members.
—
Harry Thorfinn-George,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Shyla Watson,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
The unavoidable comparison here is with Pelé, sporting excellence personified but also inscrutable, even a little remote.
—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
Some of these attacks come from the left, or from people with inscrutable worldviews.
—
Juliette Kayyem,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2026
The cult status Drain Gang commands online has created an inscrutable, near-mythical air around its members.
—
Harry Thorfinn-George,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inscrutable
Adjective
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Translation is a very mysterious thing because my goal is to create something that’s deeply equivalent but uses zero of the same words.
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That is until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, and the pair become CIA operatives.
Adjective
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Rubio met with Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain on Thursday in an effort to assuage their concerns over certain terms of the MOU, including the ambiguous language around the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
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With one, everything the best-performing agent learns is written into a layer for the next—how to handle a difficult customer, which exception patterns resolved cleanly, what an ambiguous edge case meant for the business.
Adjective
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His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection.
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The Drama stirred debate on social media over its cryptic marketing campaign that did not directly divulge the main focus of the film.
Adjective
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When that’s not enough, Google may add random noise to the data that can further obscure identities.
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This seems, if anything, deliberately obscure.
Adjective
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Naughton joins a cast led by Reeve Carney as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, Eva Noblezada as Daisy Buchanan and Corbin Bleu as Nick Carraway.
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Excavations at Rising Star have sparked debate about whether these little hominins had all ended up in the caves by tragic accident, or whether they’d been carefully placed there by other members of their enigmatic species, dubbed Homo naledi.
Adjective
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The top-of-the-line chef’s kitchen sports metallic cabinetry paired with dark marble countertops and backsplashes.
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These include rolled or folded leaf blades, a dark or blue tinge to the foliage, or lingering footprints after walking on the lawn.
Adjective
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The 6-foot-11 Condon rebounds relentlessly, protects the rim, delivers uncanny passes and makes winning plays, none bigger than his hustle to secure Florida’s comeback victory against Houston in the 2025 national championship game.
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Like Buster Keaton before him, Knoxville has an uncanny awareness of how his death-defying escapades appear on camera.
Adjective
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The mystic chords that bind us together matter more than any policy.
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Operating within those parameters, the mystic outlands trend extends to some of the world’s most mesmerizing corners.
Cite this Entry
“Inscrutable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inscrutable. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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