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inapprehensible

inapprehensible

9.9
Hard to understand or explain
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪnæprɪˈhɛnsəbl/
: incomprensible
  • His explanation was filled with jargon, making it inapprehensible to anyone not in the field.

Examples

  • Between the two, he exists in an inexorably inapprehensible present, "Hoy," which, because of its velocity, can only be perceived as "lo vivido."

    Academic text (1995)
  • The answer is so familiar as to be almost inapprehensible.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The concept was so complex that it seemed completely inapprehensible to the students.

  • Many of the legal terms in the contract were inapprehensible to her.

Synonyms

unintelligible
vsinapprehensible
649 8.6

Not clear enough to understand

is identical in meaning and equally absolute in difficulty
incomprehensible
vsinapprehensible
46 8.8

Difficult or impossible to understand

is the same in basic meaning without extra nuance
inexplicable
vsinapprehensible
45 7.8

Hard to explain or understand

is about inability to understand or grasp rather than lack of explanation
baffling
vsinapprehensible
30 6.4

Hard to understand and causing confusion

is more absolute, meaning truly impossible to understand rather than merely confusing
unfathomable
vsinapprehensible
23 8.6

Very hard to understand or measure how deep something is

is similar but focuses on simple incomprehension rather than depth
unexplainable
vsinapprehensible
19 7.0

Something people cannot understand or find a clear reason for

is focused on immediate incomprehension rather than failure of justification
bewildering
vsinapprehensible
15 5.2

Causing a lot of confusion and making things hard to understand

is about actual impossibility to understand, not just causing confusion
inscrutable
vsinapprehensible
12 8.9

Hard to understand because it shows no clear meaning or feeling

is similar but lacks the strong mysterious or secretive sense
indecipherable
vsinapprehensible
8 8.8

Too hard to read or understand

is broader, covering general inability to understand not just reading
impenetrable
vsinapprehensible
4 8.3

Very hard to understand

is similar but focuses simply on being impossible to grasp
unscannable
vsinapprehensible
1 8.4

Difficult to read from a person's face or behavior

is more general, covering all causes of not understanding beyond expressions
undecipherable
vsinapprehensible
1 9.1

Very hard to read or understand

is more general, applying to understanding beyond written or coded forms
uninterpretable
vsinapprehensible
1 8.2

Not possible to understand or explain

is similar but points to inability to mentally grasp rather than explain
uncomprehensible
vsinapprehensible
  • Informal
1 9.9

Very hard to understand

is the standard form used in normal writing
incognoscible
vsinapprehensible
  • Archaic
9.9

Not possible for people to know or understand

is about ordinary inability to grasp rather than impossible to perceive at all
incognizable
vsinapprehensible
  • Formal
9.9

Not possible for people to know or understand

is about normal mental failure to understand, not about being unperceivable
unsearchable
vsinapprehensible
7.6

Hard to know what someone thinks or feels

is broader, applying to any object or idea, not only inner states
ungettable
vsinapprehensible
9.6

Hard or impossible to understand

is focused on pure incomprehension rather than being hard to obtain

Antonyms

157 1.6

Clear and easy to see what it means or why someone feels that way

Easy to understand

How Understandable

understandable
157 1.6
unclear
212 3.9
confusing
305 3.2
baffling
30 6.4
inapprehensible
9.9

Surface Forms

inapprehensible positive
inapprehensibly positive

Morphology

inapprehensible = apprehensible (semi-transparent) = in + apprehens + ible

This sense is a straightforward negation of 'apprehensible' meaning 'able to be understood or grasped'.

Etymology

The word inapprehensible comes from the parts in- 'not' and apprehend 'to grasp' or 'take hold'. So something inapprehensible cannot be 'grasped' in the mind, which is why it means impossible to understand.