inscrutable
in·scrut·able/ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/adjective, noun
inscrutable is spelled I-N-S-C-R-U-T-A-B-L-E: 11 letters and 3 syllables (in·scrut·able). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, inscrutable means “Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in inscrutable?
| Letters | 11: I-N-S-C-R-U-T-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·scrut·able |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is inscrutable?
Inscrutable appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th 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 inscrutable?
- /ˌɪnˈskɹuːtəbl̩/
Inscrutable has 3 syllables, split in·scrut·able in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-inscrutable.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of inscrutable
- more inscrutable comparative
- most inscrutable superlative
- inscrutables plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does inscrutable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom, or interpret.
His inscrutable theories would years later become the foundation of a whole new science.
noun
- 1
One who or that which is inscrutable; a person, etc. that cannot be comprehended.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Inscrutable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense difficult or impossible to comprehend, fathom or interpret:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | impénétrable, incompréhensible, insondable |
| German | undurchschaubar |
| Portuguese | inescrutável |
| Spanish | inescrutable, impenetrable, incomprensible, insondable, inscrutable |
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.