Definition of

Inscrutable

Fathomless

That which cannot be known or discovered can be mentioned as inscrutable.

The Latin word inscrutabĭlis came to Spanish as inscrutable . This adjective is used to describe what cannot be found out or discovered .

For example: “Access to the system is protected by an inscrutable code” , “The soul of a human being is truly inscrutable” , “My grandfather was an inscrutable man: you never knew what he thought or what he felt” .

Something impossible to know

The inscrutable is that which is impossible to understand or know given its complexity, depth or mystery. The term can even be used in reference to a person when it is someone who is closed or quiet, who does not reveal his thoughts or emotions.

Suppose an investigator is trying to solve a crime . You already have a suspect, but you don't have conclusive evidence. In this framework, he decides to interview the subject whom he considers guilty, with the intention of detecting some attitude that will help him solve the case. However, the individual is inscrutable: he does not convey any emotion or doubt, whether in his words, his body posture or his face.

God and his inscrutable designs

The idea of ​​inscrutable usually appears in the field of religion . In this context, it is common to express that God's designs are inscrutable: for believers, there are divine decisions that cannot be understood and that should not even be attempted to understand since they are beyond human reach.

When it is said that God 's ways are inscrutable, we are usually trying to maintain that something negative that happens to someone actually has a positive connotation or at least a reason. Thus, although the human being does not understand it, he must trust in the divine decision.

Figure

Catholics often say that God's designs are inscrutable.

Facing a loss

Misfortunes can happen to all of us that lead us to doubt the meaning of life. When we lose a loved one, for example, the world seems to fade in front of us, as if there is no point in moving forward because the goals seem to have gone along with that unique being, whom we will no longer see again. There are religious people who are capable of facing these difficult situations with fortitude and faith, accepting God's designs.

To sustain themselves in the midst of a loss or a moment in life filled with sadness and bad experiences, they find it comforting to think that these inscrutable decisions of God are not arbitrary or capricious, that they were not made to ruin their lives or to harm them but that are part of a much more complex structure than the world we know, and for that reason they do not have us as protagonists.

Thinking this way can alleviate pain, since it gives us a broader perspective: bad things do not happen to make us suffer but rather respond to the need to keep the Universe itself, with its infinite elements and events, in balance, and we should not stop trying to analyze them but rather accept them and move forward. In any case, it is known that many of these tragic experiences lead the faithful to abandon their faith or lean towards another religion.

Synonyms and antonyms of inscrutable

Having said all this, we have a fairly broad idea of ​​the meanings and uses of the word inscrutable. In order to delve into them even further, we will list below some of their most common synonyms, some of which appear more frequently in everyday speech: mysterious, unfathomable, impenetrable, enigmatic, dark, indecipherable and unknowable. Regarding its antonyms, we can mention decipherable and clear.

The person who does not express his feelings may seem enigmatic or impenetrable, just as God's will may seem indecipherable to us. The term dark, for its part, also refers to something confusing, difficult to understand.