unaccountable

Examples

• All

• A pervasive lethargy may be punctuated by bouts of hyperactivity and sleeplessness, or by unaccountable spasms of agitation.

  Academic text (1997)

• Only there does love reveal itself in unaccountable wonder.

  Academic text (1994)

• Did I mention that I was finding this world unaccountable and strange?

  Fiction book (2000)

• Things as unaccountable as the action of the soul, for instance.

  Fiction book (2000)

• For some unaccountable reason, the mambo did not turn, so that when George did, the two of them stood looking at each other.

  Academic text (1990)

• Today, I feel a certain terror of heavy traffic and yellow lights—all things unaccountable by science.

  Fiction book (1997)

• She is babbling to stave off the sudden and unaccountable tears that threatened her eyes and her voice.

  Fiction book (1998)

• I was exhausted, confused by the unaccountable nature of the normally tractable animals, the stench of the urine and flowing sweat.

  Fiction book (2000)

• "Literature is supposed to expand the imagination, beyond gender as well as other barriers, but I seemed to have trouble conjuring a fictional world while the one at hand was so unaccountable and strange.

  Fiction book (2000)

• The sudden silence was unaccountable, leaving everyone confused about what had happened.

Synonyms

I

inexplicable

vsunaccountable

47 7.8

Hard to explain or understand

highlights lack of explanation but also stresses inability to fully understand

I

incomprehensible

vsunaccountable

46 8.8

Difficult or impossible to understand

is used when something cannot be explained, not only hard to understand

U

unexplainable

vsunaccountable

19 7.0

Something people cannot understand or find a clear reason for

is focused on inability to be understood as well as explained

U

unknowable

vsunaccountable

19 7.4

Something you cannot find out or understand

focuses more on lack of explanation or account rather than unknowability alone

I

inscrutable

vsunaccountable

12 8.9

Hard to understand because it shows no clear meaning or feeling

is more neutral, indicating something cannot be explained or understood generally

U

ungraspable

vsunaccountable

1 8.6

Difficult to understand even after thinking about it

is broader, stressing it also lacks a clear explanation or account

U

unfathomed

vsunaccountable

1 9.9

Too deep or mysterious to understand

is more general, meaning it cannot be explained or accounted for at all

I

inapprehensible

vsunaccountable

9.9

Hard to understand or explain

is more about being unable to be explained or accounted for

I

incognoscible

vsunaccountable

• Archaic

9.9

Not possible for people to know or understand

is used when something resists explanation or understanding rather than mere unknowability

Antonyms

E

explainable

7 3.8

Easy to understand

How Explainable

explainable

7 3.8

strange

∞ 2.3

mysterious

498 5.1

unaccountable

1 7.4

inexplicable

47 7.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology