incomprehensible
/ɪnˌkɑmpɹəˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l/adjective, noun
incomprehensible is spelled I-N-C-O-M-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-B-L-E: 16 letters and 6 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, incomprehensible means “Impossible or very difficult to understand” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in incomprehensible?
| Letters | 16: I-N-C-O-M-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 23,253rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is incomprehensible?
Incomprehensible appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce incomprehensible?
- UK /ɪnˌkɒmpɹɪˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l/
- UK /ɪŋˌkɒmpɹɪˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l/
- US /ɪnˌkɑmpɹəˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l/
Incomprehensible has 6 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-incomprehensible.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of incomprehensible
- more incomprehensible comparative
- most incomprehensible superlative
- incomprehensibles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does incomprehensible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Impossible or very difficult to understand.
But this inference, which is supported by the opening of Book I, renders incomprehensible the note "and I have finished writing this," which is included within the dream.
- 2
Which cannot be contained; boundless, infinite.
noun
- 1
Anything that is beyond understanding.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Incomprehensible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense impossible or very difficult to understand:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | incompréhensible |
| German | unverständlich, unbegreiflich, unfassbar |
| Portuguese | incompreensível |
| Spanish | incomprensible, incomprehensible |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.