1
as in mysterious
being beyond one's powers to know, understand, or explain
the many inscrutable beliefs of that ancient religion
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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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Recent Examples of inscrutable
Parthenope is inscrutable yet expressive, insolent yet heroic, magnetic yet unattainable, loving yet selfish.
—
Mike Miller, EW.com, 12 Feb. 2025
The resulting problems extend far beyond media: election campaigns, in which subtle impressions can lead to big differences in voting behavior, feel increasingly vulnerable to deepfakes and other manipulations by inscrutable algorithms.
—Fergus McIntosh, The New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2025
The Giants have done it again, building an entire rotation out of inscrutable test cases and unpredictable pitchers.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 14 Feb. 2025
Shout out to Armisen for his inscrutable Eastern European staccato accent as Welk, and to Anne Hathaway as the ideal lead of this sister act.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Mike Miller, EW.com, 12 Feb. 2025
The resulting problems extend far beyond media: election campaigns, in which subtle impressions can lead to big differences in voting behavior, feel increasingly vulnerable to deepfakes and other manipulations by inscrutable algorithms.
—Fergus McIntosh, The New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2025
The Giants have done it again, building an entire rotation out of inscrutable test cases and unpredictable pitchers.
—Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 14 Feb. 2025
Shout out to Armisen for his inscrutable Eastern European staccato accent as Welk, and to Anne Hathaway as the ideal lead of this sister act.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inscrutable
Adjective
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After his first game since Feb. 26, Porziņģis detailed his long journey back from a mysterious illness.—
Jay King,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
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Everyone is a suspect, and there’s a lot of buildup to finding out what happened at a fateful St. Patrick’s Day party 15 years prior — especially when Chelsea (Ilana Glazer) makes a mysterious reference to an incident that made the entire school ostracize her.—
Marianne Eloise,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Team Harris’s strategy appeared to rely heavily on a short campaign window, with a sparse interview schedule, slow windup to unscripted events, and ambiguous policy positions.—
W. James Antle III,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
14 Mar. 2025
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Instead, security leaders typically present compliance checklists, regulatory obligations and ambiguous risk scores that executives then struggle to translate into financial and operational impact.—
Jerry Layden,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The Bachelor alum took to social media on Wednesday, March 19, with a cryptic message seemingly responding to her ex-boyfriend Brendan Morais’ hard launch with his new girlfriend Serene Russell.—
Liza Esquibias,
People.com,
21 Mar. 2025
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The episode ends with a cryptic phone call to Luca from a family member, hinting at their ties to the resort.—
Martine Paris,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Russia’s ideological efforts in this domain were so effective in Romania’s 2024 presidential election, for instance, that an obscure far-right presidential candidate, Cǎlin Georgescu, came out of nowhere and won the first round.—
Michael McFaul,
The Atlantic,
10 Mar. 2025
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Disney had released some trailers but this was still an obscure Star Wars series following characters that most fans knew little about, and casual fans had never heard of before.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The actor, who has built a career playing deliciously inscrutable villains, stars as Alfred Moretti, an enigmatic pop icon who, after decades out of the spotlight, re-emerges to announce the release of a new album.—
Jessica Wang,
EW.com,
12 Mar. 2025
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There’s a lot more mythology where that came from, including an enigmatic online game.—
Simon Vozick-Levinson,
Rolling Stone,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The disruptions in flow call to mind the format of Be My Guest With Ina Garten, in which Ina both preps for a guest as well as cooks with them, but Meghan’s uncanny flashbacks somehow further untether the show from the reality of her not-kitchen.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
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Reality Blues wades into the mysteries of our uncanny world, trying to catch a vibe.—
Meaghan Garvey,
Pitchfork,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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An adults-only drama about an exotic dancer's entanglements with a rich family (and its many secrets), Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black is dark, violent, and scandalous, with storylines revolving around murder, blackmail, and human trafficking.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
11 Mar. 2025
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The outage was random and intermittent, lasting for 45 minutes at a time, then resuming only to go dark again for another 45 minutes.—
John Brandon,
Forbes,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Founded on the ethos of art as a form of mystic healing, the label reimagines the family heirloom—and invites its patrons to examine their relationship with objects.—
Nia Shumake,
Essence,
3 Feb. 2025
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Healy Lake members have long considered their dogs to be mystic companions, according to Combs.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
4 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Inscrutable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inscrutable. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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