inexplicability

Noun

inexplicability (countable and uncountable, plural inexplicabilities)

1. (uncountable) The state of being difficult to account for; the state of being inexplicable.
   • [T]he inexplicability of the general’s conduct dwelt much on her thoughts.1803 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XXVI, in Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 20...
   • The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions.1887, Thomas Henry Huxley, “On the Reception of the ‘Origin of Species’”, in Francis Darwin, editor, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, volume I, New York: D. Appleton & Company, page 557

   Synonyms:

   inexplicableness

2. (countable) Something that is inexplicable.
   • Both mother and daughter now fell into a train of painful perplexity and conjecture. Lady Delamore had long thought Mrs. Fermor’s carrying Mary off to town without permitting her to say adieu at Delamore Castle, detaining her so long there, and lady Frances Harcourt joining their mysterious party...1806, [Catherine Cuthbertson], chapter XX, in Santo Sebastiano: or, The Young Protector. […], volume V, London: […] George Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 386
   • For upwards of four years, whilst the crowd was puzzled with ‘hired kings,’ and many other inexplicabilities, I can truly affirm, that, to me, ‘Wharton was as plain,’ as if I had surveyed the interior of Sir Francis Burdett’s mind, uneased by its tegument of flesh; […]1806 November 16, D. O’Bryen, “Mr. O’Bryen’s Most Marvellous Discovery. (From the Morning Post.)”, in Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, volume X, number 22, London: […] Cox and Baylis, […] Richard...

   Synonyms:

   inexplicable