inscrutably
1
9.6
- adverb
- /ɪnˈskruːtəblɪ/
:
de manera inscrutable
- The bus route—" Route No. 548: Ikorodu-Ebute Ero"—is written in inscrutably small print on the left side (under "LUB 4728"), where it is invisible to the waiting passengers.
Examples
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Like the Oscars, Go To Think Tank envelopes go to the institutions that get the most votes, and those votes are based on subjective criteria inscrutably embedded in the heads of the voters.
Blog text (13) -
He grins inscrutably, just like the movies.
Fiction book (2001) -
To the extent that their technologies are being written about, it is only in specialized scientific journals that are, for most people, inscrutably recondite.
Blog text (20) -
She shook her head slowly but rather inscrutably.
Academic text (1992) -
A lifeguard slouched on his chair, surveying the bathers inscrutably behind his dark glasses.
Fiction book (1995) -
It made no difference whether He was there or not, whether He was truly beneficent in His inscrutably divine manner, or whether He was bad, indifferent, or an Almighty devil.
Fiction book (1998) -
The chaotic tableau of violence we're witnessing may seem inscrutably foreign, but there is a none-too-distant point in our past when Americans, immersed in turmoil and insecure about the
Blog text (7) -
For instance, in 1838, future United States president John Tyler opined, "God works most inscrutably to the understandings of men; the Negro is torn from Africa, a barbarian, ignorant, and idolatrous."
Academic text (2018) -
The artist's motivations remained inscrutably hidden from the critics observing her work.
-
His expression was inscrutably calm, leaving everyone unsure of what he truly felt.
Synonyms
67
4.6
In a way that is strange and hard to understand
29
6.9
In a way that cannot be explained or understood
5
6.9
In a way that is strange, surprising, and hard to explain
2
8.0
It is very hard to understand
2
8.1
In a way that is very hard to understand
1
8.2
In a way that is so great it cannot be understood or believed
1
8.3
In a mysterious way that is hard to understand
1
8.4
In a way that is very surprising and hard to understand
1
8.9
Impossible to go through or understand
1
6.9
In a way that people cannot understand
1
8.2
In a confusing way that makes something hard to understand
1
8.0
In a way that is hard to understand or see through
1
7.9
In a way that is hard to understand
1
6.1
In a way that is confusing and hard to understand
1
7.9
In a way that makes something hard to understand
1
8.4
In a way that is very confusing and hard to understand
So unclear that people cannot read or understand it
In a way that makes something hard to understand
In a way that is hard to find, catch, or understand
In a way you cannot clearly describe
Antonyms
How Mysterious
Surface Forms
Morphology
inscrutably = inscrutable (semi-transparent) = in + scrut + able + ly
The formation of an adverb from the adjective 'inscrutable' by adding '-ly' is a regular and readily interpretable process.
Etymology
Inscrutably comes from the Latin prefix in- meaning 'not' and the root scrut- meaning 'to search', the same root in scrutiny and scrutinize. So if someone behaves inscrutably they are like a closed book you cannot 'search' or read, which is why the word means 'impossible to understand'.