inexplicable
/ˌɪn.ɪkˈsplɪ.kə.bl̩/
inexplicable adjective: impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.
Adjective
inexplicable (comparative more inexplicable, superlative most inexplicable)
- Impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.
- The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 3
- “No,” replied the girl, “it would not be strange, of course; but for some inexplicable reason I have one of those foolish feminine presentiments that all is not right with Mr. Caldwell. It is the strangest feeling—it is as though I knew that he was not on board the ship.”1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 106
- Synonyms:
- inexplainable, unexplainable, insoluble, abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, fathomless, bottomless, Greek
- Antonyms:
- explicable, apprehensible, clear, limpid, comprehensible, explainable, explicatable, fathomable, graspable, illuminable
Noun
inexplicable (plural inexplicables)
- Something that is impossible to explain.
- HEE [Cleanthes] left behind him (ſaith [Diogenes] Laertius) theſe excellent Books. […] Of Inexplicables.1656, Tho[mas] Stanley, “[Cleanthes.] Chap[ter] III. His Writings.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Second Volume, volume II, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring: […], →OCLC, 8th part...
- The premature passing of Bob Collins and the sadness it begets leave us in wonder. A man of vigor and vitality, compassion and concern, and a joyous contributor enhancing each new day is suddenly no more. Or is that also conjecture or gospel? Could it be that his departure is but a chapter in the...2000, Wally Phillips, “Foreword”, in Vicki Quade, I Remember Bob Collins, Champaign, Ill.: Bannon Multimedia Group, →ISBN, page vi
- Synonyms:
- inexplicability
inexplicable meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
inexplicable in Tamil
- விளக்கமுடியாதது, விளக்கமுடியாத
inexplicable in Urdu
- ناقابل وضاحت, پراسرار
inexplicable in Bengali
- inexplicable
- অকথনীয় okthoniẏo
inexplicable in Malayalam
- വിശദീകരിക്കാനാവാത്ത
More languagesFewer languages
- inexplicable in Kannada
- ತಿಳಿಸಲಾಗದ, ಬಿಡಿಸಿಹೇಳಲಾಗದ, ವಿವರಿಸಲಾಗದ, ಅವಿವರಣೀಯ
- inexplicable in Thai
- ที่อธิบายไม่ได้ tîi à-tí-baai mâi-dâi
Examples of inexplicable in a sentence
- Voters can judge the bears on any combination of criteria—floofiness, chonkiness, or inexplicable charm.
- This is the inexplicable, says the Northern European: a Bauhaus of ruins.
- For some inexplicable reason, remote controls are allowed only on D block (the drug-free block).
Synonyms of inexplicable
23 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- explicable
- apprehensible
- clear
- limpid
- comprehensible
- explainable
- explicatable
- fathomable
- graspable
- illuminable
7 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of inexplicable
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more inexplicable |
| superlative | most inexplicable |
| alternative uncommon | unexplicable |
| Noun | |
| plural | inexplicables |
Origin of inexplicable
From Middle English inexplicable, from Middle French inexplicable, from Latin inexplicābilis, from in- (“not”) + explicābilis (“explicable”). By surface analysis, in- + explicable.
Words formed from inexplicable
Questions about inexplicable
- What does inexplicable mean?
- Inexplicable means impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.
- What is inexplicable in Tamil?
- Inexplicable in Tamil is விளக்கமுடியாதது, விளக்கமுடியாத. See Inexplicable meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is inexplicable?
- Inexplicable can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce inexplicable?
- Inexplicable is pronounced /ˌɪn.ɪkˈsplɪ.kə.bl̩/.
Words near inexplicable in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: inexplicable (page history and authors); inexplicable (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); inexplicable (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); অকথনীয় (Bengali) (page history and authors); inexplicable (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); inexplicable (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-inexplicable.wav.
Cite this entry: “inexplicable.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inexplicable. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.