inexplicableadj.adv.n.
/ɪnˈɛksplɪkəb(ə)l/ A. adj. (and adv.)† 1. † b. as adv. = inexplicably adv. Obsolete.† 2. That cannot be ‘unfolded’ or expressed in words; inexpressible, indescribable. Obsolete.
a. That cannot be unfolded, untwisted, or disentangled; inextricable; very intricate or complex. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > [adjective]
uncouthc897
unnimlyc1225
incomprehensiblea1340
unsearchablec1384
unknowable?c1400
investigablea1425
uncomprehensiblea1425
unthinkablec1445
imperscrutablec1450
inscrutablec1450
inopinable?a1475
incomprenable1502
unspectable?1504
incogitablec1522
uncogitable1529
impenetrable1531
inimaginable1534
inexplicable1555
unsensible1555
unscrutable1562
unfashionable1563
unpenetrable1581
unexcogitable1592
ineffable1598
inexcogitable1599
indivinable1603
ininvestigable1604
incapable1605
searchless?1606
uncomprehensive1609
unconceivable1611
undivinable1611
unimaginable1611
unexplicable1615
unintelligible1616
unapprehensible?1617
unfathomable1617
imprehensible1622
ununderstandablea1631
indeprehensible1633
indiscernible1635
inscrute1639
inapprehensiblea1641
indiscoverable1640
unexaminable1641
impervestigable1643
fathomless1645
inconceivable1646
indeterminable1646
inexplorable1646
insearchable1647
incomprehended1652
comprehendlessa1654
incomprehensive1656
untraceable1661
uninvestigablea1677
unintelligent1683
incognoscible1691
thought-transcendinga1711
uncognizable1720
acataleptic1727
undescriptive1744
elusive1751
impalpable1781
inaccessible1796
unconjecturable1806
uncognoscible1821
unascertainable1827
unfixable1831
unguessable1832
unrealizable1832
unsurveyable1833
hard-shelled1835
unintellective1837
undeemed1845
graspless1849
unconjectured1850
incognizable1852
ungraspable1853
unreadable1853
super-cerebral1854
elusory1856
trans-conscious1865
intangible1880
uncatchable1892
unspelt1892
unplumbable1895
unknowledgeable1920
indiscutable1933
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > entanglement or entangled state > [adjective] > unable to be untangled
inexplicable1555
untwineable1609
inextricate?1615
inexplicate1623
inextricable1829
irresolvable1886
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. ajv Of the Mazes cauled Labyrinthi..of knottes inexplicable..and dyuers suche other portentous inuentions.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 579 Before a man can come to the Labyrinth indeed which is so intricat and inexplicable.
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 9 He was busied in surveying the inexplicable banks of Nilus,..and the winding compasse of their trenches.
1837 R. W. Emerson Oration before Phi Beta Kappa Soc. 5 There is never a beginning, there is never an end, to the inexplicable continuity of this web of God.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > entanglement or entangled state > [adverb] > so as to be unable to be untangled
inexplicable1490
inextricably1597
inexplicably1814
1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos xiv. 49 The contynuelle thoughte wherinne she is Inexplycable occupyed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexpressibility > [adjective]
unsayinglyOE
wordlessa1200
unanemneda1225
unspeaking1340
untellablea1382
unenarrable1382
unspeakablea1400
ineffablec1450
inenarrablec1450
indicible1480
enarrable1482
inexplicable1502
inspeakable?1504
innominable1532
unoutspeakable1535
unexpressable1548
innarrable1554
inpronunciable1554
uncommunicable1555
inexprimablea1577
unexpressiblea1586
unutterablea1586
expressless1590
nameless1597
recountless1601
inutterable1603
indeclarable1610
unnameable1610
unreportable1611
speakless1612
unexpressivea1616
inexpressiblea1631
utterless1643
inexpressive1652
unwordablec1660
incommunicable1694
paintless1729
descriptionless1749
undelineable1767
describeless1799
indefinable1810
undescribable1818
unqualifiable1822
untelling1823
utterless1832
unpindownable1915
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) v. ii. sig. nn.iii Flagellacyons and tormentes inexplycables..without ende or wt out releasynge.
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 97 The inexplicable benefite of knowledge.
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 431 The miseries and afflictions of imprisonment are inexplicable and cannot bee conceiued by any that haue not felt or had proofe thereof.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 54 Fire..A Subject or Utensil of so various and inexplicable use.
3. That cannot be explained; inscrutable, unintelligible; (in later use) that cannot be accounted for, unaccountable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexplicableness > [adjective]
unplitable?c1425
unexplicable1532
inexplicable1546
subtle1547
irresolute1574
subtile1582
undissoluble1587
incomprehensible1604
unexpoundable1611
unfoldable1611
inexplainable1623
unsalvable1624
uninterpretable1625
indissolvable1637
unaccountable1643
inaccountable1647
unexplainablea1711
undecipherable1757
irresolvable1785
indecipherable1853
unconstruable1856
inconstruable1874
unravellable1881
1546 Bp. S. Gardiner Declar. True Articles 84 b You turne the matteir so aboute, as it is inexplicable.
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. x. f. 239 The matter..obscure and hard, and in a maner inexplicable.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 12 Inexplicable dumbe showes. View more context for this quotation
1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. 39 Articles (1700) 37 If God has declared this inexplicable thing concerning himself to us, we are bound to believe it.
1793 T. Beddoes Observ. Nature & Cure Calculus 188 Phænomena hitherto inexplicable in the animal and vegetable œconomy.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 160 The wooer had begun to hold the refusal of the damsel as somewhat capricious and inexplicable.
1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) §566 There were, in the depths of the sea, untold wonders, and inexplicable mysteries.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xv. 226 Still more inexplicable was the ingratitude of the aristocracy.
B. n.
1. Something that cannot be explained. (Usually in plural.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexplicableness > [noun] > instance of
indissolvable1661
inexplicable1745
unaccountable1789
inexplicability1814
1745 J. T. Needham Acct. New Microsc. Discov. Introd. 5 We may surely reckon it among the Inexplicables.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic ix. 294 Miscellaneous sophisms of so puzzling a character that the old logicians called them the Inexplicables.
2. plural. A colloquial euphemism for ‘trousers’: cf. inexpressibles, see inexpressible n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers
trouse1678
trousers1681
kicks1699
trousiesa1713
brogues1748
inexpressibles1790
unmentionable1791
et cetera1794
indescribable1794
kickseys1819
ineffables1823
indispensablesa1828
unimaginable1833
pantaloon1834
pants1835
inexplicables1836
never-mention-'ems1836
unwhisperable1837
results1839
sit-down-upons1839
sit-upons1839
unmentionabilities1840
innominablea1843
unutterables1843
trews1847
round-the-houses1857
unprintable1860
stovepipe1863
sit-in-ems1873
reach-me-downs1877
strides1889
rounds1893
long1898
kecks1900
rammies1906
trou1911
pants1970
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 257 He usually wore a brown frock coat without a wrinkle, light inexplicables without a spot.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.adv.n.1490