incomprehensible
nounEtymology From Middle French incomprehensible, from Latin incomprehēnsibilis. Equivalent to in- + comprehensible.
1
Anything that is beyond understanding.
incomprehensible
adjUK /ɪnˌkɒmpɹɪˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l/ · US /ɪnˌkɑmpɹəˈhɛnsɪb(ə)l/
Etymology From Middle French incomprehensible, from Latin incomprehēnsibilis. Equivalent to in- + comprehensible.
1
Impossible or very difficult to understand.
- But this inference, which is supported by the opening of Book I, renders incomprehensible the note "and I have finished writing this," which is included within the dream.1904-09, Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, published 1962
- In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:
2 more examples
- He shook his head. 'It's not only undefined, it's incomprehensible. Even the QL is befuddled by it and can't give me straight answers.'1990, Greg Bear, Heads:
- Trump’s grotesque and incomprehensible fondness for Putin makes the details of any deal highly dangerous for Europe and the NATO alliance, founded to confront Russia.2024 November 9, Nick Paton Walsh, “Trump’s second term could bring chaos around the world. Will it work?”, in CNN:
- Prayer to God the Father: It is fitting and right to sing to You, to bless You, to praise You, to give thanks to You, to worship You in every place of your dominion: for You are God, beyond description, beyond understanding, invisible, incomprehensible, always existing, always the same; You and your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit1969, “The Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom: Liturgy of Offering”, in Joseph Raya, transl., edited by José de Vinck, Byzantine Daily Worship, Alleluia Press, page 282:
- Synonyms
31 terms
fathomless, unfathomable, unintelligible, abstruse, Chinese, dense, enigmatic, Greek, inapprehensible, incognizable, incomprehensible, ineffable, inenubilable, inexplicable, impenetrable, insensible, inscrutable, insoluble, insolvable, mysterious, nonunderstandable, obscure, retruse, tenebrose, thick, undecipherable, undiscoverable, unexplainable, ungraspable, unknowable, ununderstandable- Antonyms
- comprehensible, understandable
- Derived terms
- incomprehensibleness, incomprehensibly
- Related terms
- incomprehension, opaque, turbid, it's all Chinese to me, it's all Greek to me, confusing, indescribable
- Hypernyms
- difficult