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
Take the three men from Chicago who, motivated by some inscrutable force, recently attempted to set a Guinness World Record for fastest time visiting every single MARTA transit station.
—
Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 12 Jan. 2026
According to Know Your Meme, the term vagueposting started with vaguebooking, a description for a purposefully inscrutable Facebook update that encourages friends to check in.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 Jan. 2026
Cameron Winter’s lyrics have an air of inscrutable mysticism, but there is little doubt he’s supposed to be the one singing them.
—Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
What hurts most is that there’s no single performance here as challenging and complex as what Florence Pugh was doing in Lady Macbeth or what Thomasin McKenzie delivered in Eileen — performances that demand focus and interpretation, conjuring the inscrutable within the familiar.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 12 Jan. 2026
According to Know Your Meme, the term vagueposting started with vaguebooking, a description for a purposefully inscrutable Facebook update that encourages friends to check in.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 Jan. 2026
Cameron Winter’s lyrics have an air of inscrutable mysticism, but there is little doubt he’s supposed to be the one singing them.
—Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
What hurts most is that there’s no single performance here as challenging and complex as what Florence Pugh was doing in Lady Macbeth or what Thomasin McKenzie delivered in Eileen — performances that demand focus and interpretation, conjuring the inscrutable within the familiar.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for inscrutable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inscrutable
Adjective
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For several months, a mysterious sign displayed in the windows of vacant storefront in Shorewood has intrigued passersby along Capitol Drive.—
Claudia Levens,
jsonline.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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To anyone who's gotten a bill three months after treatment only to find mysterious charges, the idea seemed intuitive.—
Darius Tahir,
NPR,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Çatak’s anti-state message acquires an ambiguous power as the movie wends onward, with an enigmatic final shot that finds Aziz tasting clear-skies freedom but still from behind confines of a sort.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
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Wuthering Heights simultaneously puts too much malevolence on Nelly’s shoulders while also making her final decisions sort of nonsensical, even ambiguous.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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At the end of the video, Swift shows a clip from their appearance on the Graham Norton Show in which Gleeson jokes about wanting to star in a music video and Swift giving a surprised, but cryptic smile.—
Lexy Perez,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
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Bryony hopes that sharing her story will help spread awareness about cryptic pregnancies, or stealth pregnancies.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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And third, the center of the nebula is obscure, with what looks like a wispy cloud in the foreground blocking us from seeing the central star itself.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
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The group that organized the convoy was connected to a broader network of nurses, doctors, and volunteers, which had been coördinating dozens of surgeries for protesters marooned in their homes, in obscure corners of the country.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And for much of its existence, Britain’s most enigmatic automaker had one showroom and a handful of loyal customers.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
6 Feb. 2026
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Harry Melling stars as a timid man who is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker (Skarsgård) takes him on as his submissive.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The activist also went full glam on her flight, looking radiant in bronzy makeup, complete with dark eyeliner, fluttery eyelashes, fluffy eyebrows, luminous skin, and glossy lips.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
10 Feb. 2026
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More dark, romantic beauty inspiration.—
Jesa Marie Calaor,
Allure,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And with several shots of the sneaker throughout the park, the resemblance between the two is uncanny.—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
10 Feb. 2026
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Recently, Boston Dynamics explained Atlas’s uncanny ground-recovery move, revealing why the humanoid rises with contortions rather than standing upright.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The Dera was founded in 1948 by the mystic Mastana Balochistani in the Haryana city of Sirsa, near the northern state’s borders with Punjab, India’s breadbasket, and the desert state of Rajasthan.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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Although Nuccio is as down to earth as anyone could be, and definitely not a mystic, there can be no disputing his stature as a remarkable man.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inscrutable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inscrutable. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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