Welcome to another astonishing episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! This is the sixth in our series of words which only seem to be used in the negative. And the Word of the Week is:
Inscrutable:
Pronunciation: \in-ˈskrü-tə-bəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin inscrutabilis, from Latin in- + scrutari to search — more at scrutiny
Date: 15th century
: not readily investigated, interpreted, or understood : mysterious
"inscrutable." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 3 June 2010
but how often do you hear the word:
Scrutable:
Pronunciation: \ˈskrü-tə-bəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin scrutabilis searchable, from Latin scrutari
Date: circa 1600
: capable of being deciphered : comprehensible
"scrutable." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.
Merriam-Webster Online. 3 June 2010
Example: Jane found Brad's sudden attention to her inscrutable, but Sally, who was aware that Brad's girlfriend had just dumped him last night, found his motives entirely scrutable.
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