inexplicable

• unexplicable (uncommon)

From Middle English inexplicable, from Middle French inexplicable, from Latin inexplicābilis, from in- (“not”) +‎ explicābilis (“explicable”).^[1] By surface analysis, in- +‎ explicable.

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.ɪkˈsplɪ.kə.bl̩/, /ɪnˈɛk.splɪ.kə.bəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

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inexplicable (comparative more inexplicable, superlative most inexplicable)

1. Impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.

   Synonyms: inexplainable, unexplainable, insoluble; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

   Antonyms: explicable; see also Thesaurus:comprehensible

   • 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:

     The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 106:

     “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.”

inexplicable (plural inexplicables)

1. Something that is inexplicable.

   Synonym: inexplicability

   • 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 (Containing the Stoick Philosophers), pages 127–128:

     HEE [Cleanthes] left behind him (ſaith [Diogenes] Laertius) theſe excellent Books. […] Of Inexplicables.

   • 2000, Wally Phillips, “Foreword”, in Vicki Quade, I Remember Bob Collins, Champaign, Ill.: Bannon Multimedia Group, →ISBN, page vi:

     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 imponderable mystery we long to comprehend? An inexplicable that cannot be perceived?

   • 2001, Ann Zwinger, “Fall Colors, Gifts of Glory”, in Anthony Eaton Cook, Fall Colors across North America, Portland, Ore.: Graphic Arts Center Publishing, →ISBN, page 30:

     Each clone acts as a huge, undivided tree, with its own time of flushing spring leaves, of turning yellow, and its own shade of yellow that can vary from lemon to salmon to an occasional sandy red, the color change defining the margins of each clone. The contrasting colors depend on variations in soil chemistry, slope exposure, genetic makeup, and a grab bag of inexplicables that bless trees, growing so closely that their upper branches may touch, with smartly different colors.

   • 2001, Salman Rushdie, chapter 1, in Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 10:

     Her proposition was that at the heart of each of the great tragedies were unanswerable questions about love, and, to make sense of the plays, we must each attempt to explicate these inexplicables in our own way.

Borrowed from Latin inexplicābilis.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [in.əks.pliˈkab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.eks.pliˈka.ble]

• Audio (Catalonia):

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• Rhymes: -abblə, -able

inexplicable m or f (masculine and feminine plural inexplicables)

1. inexplicable

   Antonym: explicable

• inexplicablement

• “inexplicable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “inexplicable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “inexplicable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “inexplicable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin inexplicābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ explicable.

• IPA^(key): /i.nɛk.spli.kabl/

inexplicable (plural inexplicables)

1. inexplicable, unexplainable

   Antonym: explicable

• inexplicablement

• “inexplicable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• inexplicável (reintegrationist)
• inexplicábel

From Latin inexplicābilis.

inexplicable m or f (plural inexplicables)

1. inexplicable, unexplainable

   Antonym: explicable

• inexplicablemente

• “inexplicable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

From Latin inexplicābilis.

• IPA^(key): /ineɡspliˈkable/ [i.neɣ̞s.pliˈka.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: i‧nex‧pli‧ca‧ble

inexplicable m or f (masculine and feminine plural inexplicables)

1. inexplicable, unexplainable

   Antonym: explicable

• “inexplicable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024