inexplicable


Also found in: Thesaurus.
Related to inexplicable: flummoxed, enigma, wizened

in·ex·pli·ca·ble

 (ĭn-ĕk′splĭ-kə-bəl, ĭn′ĭk-splĭk′ə-bəl)
adj.
Difficult or impossible to explain or account for.

in·ex′pli·ca·bil′i·ty, in·ex′pli·ca·ble·ness n.
in·ex′pli·ca·bly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

inexplicable

(ˌɪnɪkˈsplɪkəbəl; ɪnˈɛksplɪkəbəl) or

inexplainable

adj
not capable of explanation; unexplainable
ˌinexplicaˈbility, ˌinexˈplicableness, ˌinexˌplainaˈbility, ˌinexˈplainableness n
ˌinexˈplicably, ˌinexˈplainably adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•ex•pli•ca•ble

(ɪnˈɛk splɪ kə bəl, ˌɪn ɪkˈsplɪk ə-)

adj.
not explicable; incapable of being explained.
[1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin]
in•ex`pli•ca•bil′i•ty, in•ex′pli•ca•ble•ness, n.
in•ex′pli•ca•bly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.inexplicable - incapable of being explained or accounted for; "inexplicable errors"; "left the house at three in the morning for inexplicable reasons"
uncomprehensible, incomprehensible - difficult to understand; "the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible"- A. Einstein
insoluble - admitting of no solution or explanation; "an insoluble doubt"
explicable - capable of being explicated or accounted for; "explicable behavior"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

inexplicable

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

inexplicable

adjective
That cannot be explained:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
لا يُمْكِن تَفْسيرُه
nevysvětlitelný
uforklarliguforståelig
óskÿranlegur
nepaaiškinamainepaaiškinamas
neizprotamsneizskaidrojams
açıklanamaznedeni bilinemez

inexplicable

[ˌɪnɪksˈplɪkəbl] ADJ [behaviour, event, delay] → inexplicable
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

inexplicable

[ˌɪnɪkˈsplɪkəbəl ɪnˈɛksplɪkəbəl] adjinexplicable
for some inexplicable reason → pour une raison inexplicable
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

inexplicable

adjunerklärlich, unerklärbar
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

inexplicable

[ˌɪnɪksˈplɪkəbl] adjinesplicabile
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

inexplicable

(inikˈsplikəbl) adjective
impossible to explain or understand. His inexplicable absence worried all of us.
ˌinexˈplicably adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
Considering these facts, I think it would be an inexplicable circumstance if water-birds did not transport the seeds of fresh-water plants to vast distances, and if consequently the range of these plants was not very great.
Other astronomers have seen in these inexplicable rays a kind of moraines, rows of erratic blocks, which had been thrown up at the period of Tycho's formation.
Indeed, the results of that still unknown science known as hypnotism, for example, were not more inexplicable than the disappearance of the "matter" of the murderer at the moment when four persons were within touch of him.
But supplementary to this, it has hypothetically occurred to me, that as ordinary fish possess what is called a swimming bladder in them, capable, at will, of distension or contraction; and as the Sperm Whale, as far as I know, has no such provision in him; considering, too, the otherwise inexplicable manner in which he now depresses his head altogether beneath the surface, and anon swims with it high elevated out of the water; considering the unobstructed elasticity of its envelop; considering the unique interior of his head; it has hypothetically occurred to me, I say, that those mystical lung-celled honeycombs there may possibly have some hitherto unknown and unsuspected connexion with the outer air, so as to be susceptible to atmospheric distension and contraction.
"Why attempt to explain the inexplicable?" he replied.
"I was about to speak further, when I observed the wild oats near the place of the disturbance moving in the most inexplicable way.
But on the 11th one of those inexplicable tempests peculiar to those intertropical regions was let loose in the atmosphere.
He knew neither fear nor mercy, except upon rare occasions when some strange, inexplicable force stayed his hand--a force inexplicable to him, perhaps, because of his ignorance of his own origin and of all the forces of humanitarianism and civilization that were his rightful heritage because of that origin.
But it seemed that, when on the wharf, Queequeg had not at all noticed what I now alluded to; hence I would have thought myself to have been optically deceived in that matter, were it not for Elijah's otherwise inexplicable question.
Thereupon followed various and unpleasant consequences of a physical order - "queer symptoms," as the captain, who treated them, used to say; inexplicable periods of powerlessness, sudden accesses of mysterious pain; and the patient agreed fully with the regretful mutters of his very attentive captain wishing that it had been a straightforward broken leg.
Hence the phenomena of "jolt" and your "inexplicable collisions" with factory chimneys.
In a moment Strickland looked away and idly surveyed the ceiling, but she continued to stare at him, and now her look was quite inexplicable.