Inexplicable

How to spell inexplicable

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce inexplicable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inexplicable mean?

1. adjectiveImpossible to explain, understand, or account for.

Inexplicable in a sentence

• The charge on the bill was inexplicable and the bank could not justify it.

• For some inexplicable reason the lift stopped working every afternoon.

Where does inexplicable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin inexplicabilis, meaning 'that cannot be unfolded' or 'incapable of being explained'. It is built from the negative prefix in- ('not'), the verb explicare ('to unfold, unravel, or explain'), and the suffix -abilis ('able to be'). The verb explicare itself joins ex- ('out') with plicare ('to fold'), so the literal image is of something so tangled that it cannot be folded back out and made plain. The very same plicare root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'explain', 'complicated', and 'application', all of which involve folding things together or apart. English took the word in during the late 1500s, largely through scholarly Latin, and the spelling has kept that ex-plic core intact, which is the part writers must hold onto rather than slipping toward an 'ex-plain' style ending.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• ex- (out)
• plic (to fold)
• -able (able to be)