adjective
incomprehensible
in-kahm-prih-HEN-suh-bul/ɪnˌkɑːmprɪˈhensəbl/
Impossible or extremely difficult to understand.
The tangled assembly diagram seems incomprehensible to the person holding unmatched parts.
Etymology
The Latin base treats understanding as grasping something. Negative in- makes this a failure of mental grasp: something the mind cannot take hold of.
In context
She betrays an incomprehensible resentment against Mr. Blake Mr. Superintendent, and myself—otherwise, the very three people who have all, in their different ways, been trying to help her to recover her lost jewel.
More examples
- Her reasons for refusing the offer remain incomprehensible to me.
- Without the chart, these strings of numbers are incomprehensible.
- The recording is nearly incomprehensible because of the background noise.
Forms
incomprehensible · more incomprehensible · most incomprehensible
incomprehensibly adverb — In a way that defies understanding.
incomprehensibility noun — The quality of being impossible to understand.
Similar words
- unintelligible
- Usually describes speech or writing that cannot be understood.
- baffling
- Emphasizes the confusion caused by something difficult to explain.