What does inexplicability mean?
Inexplicability means that something cannot be explained or understood despite sustained thought, investigation, or available evidence. The noun is especially common in discussions of the universe, human behaviour, memory, illness, coincidence, and religious belief. It emphasizes a fundamental limit on explanation rather than merely an awkward or temporarily incomplete account. For example, a researcher may describe the inexplicability of a disease's spread, while a philosopher may examine the inexplicability of consciousness. In ordinary conversation, the term sounds formal and intellectually serious, so uncomplicated mysteries are more naturally described as puzzles, mysteries, or unexplained events. Related forms include the adjective inexplicable and the adverb inexplicably, as in an inexplicably sudden change.
nounThe fact or quality of being impossible to explain or understand.
- The state or quality of being impossible to explain or understand.
"The inhabitants continued to ponder the inexplicability of the abandoned settlement."
"The inexplicability of the disease's sudden spread has frustrated investigators."
"Her journal explores the inexplicability of memory and the passage of time."
The regular plural is used when referring to distinct mysteries or instances that resist explanation.
"The manuscript contains several inexplicabilities that no scholar has yet resolved."
Sometimes the hardest mystery is not what something means, but why it happened at all.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of inexplicability
Inexplicability was formed in English from the adjective inexplicable and the suffix -ity. In turn, inexplicable comes through Latin from explicare, a verb meaning to unfold, explain, or make clear. Its negation reflects the Latin prefix in-, which has the sense of not or un-. The same Latin root produced familiar English words including explicate, explanation, and explicit.
Related word forms
How inexplicability is actually used
This is a formal, abstract noun. It is often used in philosophical, scientific, or religious discussion and may sound noticeably more emphatic than explainability.
Easily confused with inexplicability
Implausibility means that something is unlikely or difficult to believe, whereas inexplicability means that it cannot be explained or understood.
Inscrutability often describes a person whose motives or character cannot be known, while inexplicability usually refers to an event, phenomenon, or experience that resists explanation.