inscrutability
Resistance to interpretation
Inscrutability is the quality of being impossible to understand or interpret.
A person's inscrutability makes their thoughts or intentions unreadable: His inscrutability at the poker table was legendary.
The word often appears in descriptions of facial expressions, motives, or complex systems that resist analysis.
Strikingly unusual, foreign-seeming
- othernessQuality of being unlike
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- mystiqueAura of fascination
- foreignnessQuality of being unfamiliar
Fu Manchu · trope · opacity · misunderstood · projection · caricature · prejudice · misreading
Practice of hiding information
- opacityImpermeability to light
- unaccountabilityAbsence of obligation to explain
- closed-doorExcluding outside parties
- opaqueImpassable to light
nontransparent · hidden · covert · classified · confidential · stonewalling · evasion · obfuscation
Impossible to understand
- ineffableBeyond verbal expression
- transcendentExceeding usual boundaries
- mysticalOf hidden spiritual significance
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
incomprehensible · metaphysical · paradox · koan · divine · numinous · sublime · mystery
Puzzling and obscure
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- poker-facedShowing no emotion
- unreadableCannot be deciphered
- expressionlessShowing no feeling
stoic · mysterious · deadpan · blank · guarded · opaque · masked · impenetrable
Obscure in meaning
- obscureUnknown to most
- indecipherableImpossible to understand
- opaqueImpassable to light
- abstruseDifficult to comprehend
hermetic · dense · impenetrable · coded · encrypted · ambiguous · elliptical · esoteric
exotic
Strikingly unusual, foreign-seeming
- othernessQuality of being unlike
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- mystiqueAura of fascination
foreignness · Fu Manchu · trope · opacity · misunderstood · projection · caricature · prejudice · misreading · cipher
secrecy
Practice of hiding information
- opacityImpermeability to light
- unaccountabilityAbsence of obligation to explain
- closed-doorExcluding outside parties
opaque · nontransparent · hidden · covert · classified · confidential · stonewalling · evasion · obfuscation · concealment
unknowable
Impossible to understand
- ineffableBeyond verbal expression
- transcendentExceeding usual boundaries
- mysticalOf hidden spiritual significance
unfathomable · incomprehensible · metaphysical · paradox · koan · divine · numinous · sublime · mystery · enigma
enigmatic
Puzzling and obscure
- impassiveWithout visible emotion
- poker-facedShowing no emotion
- unreadableCannot be deciphered
expressionless · stoic · mysterious · deadpan · blank · guarded · opaque · masked · impenetrable · unfathomable
cryptic
Obscure in meaning
- obscureUnknown to most
- indecipherableImpossible to understand
- opaqueImpassable to light
abstruse · hermetic · dense · impenetrable · coded · encrypted · ambiguous · elliptical · esoteric · arcane
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- mysteriousnessenigma, mystique, obscurity, crypticness, elusiveness
- unclearnessvagueness, ambiguity, obscurity, haziness, fuzziness
- cat traitssilky coat, coat, tabby pattern, claws, long-haired
- protectionbodyguard, armor, gloves, security guard, shield
- silencequiet, silent, mute, hush, stillness
inscrutabilityclarity
State of being understandable
intelligibility · comprehensibility · understandability · lucidity · obviousness
inscrutabilitytransparency
State of being see-through
openness · explicitness · clearness · readability · directness
inscrutabilityexpressiveness
Ability to convey emotion
transparency · openness · readability · emotiveness · demonstrativeness
scrutiny, scrutinize, inscrutable, inscrutably, scrutable, inscrutableness