Meaning & use
incomprehensible
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Impossible or nearly impossible to understand because it is unclear, too complex, or badly expressed.
Grammar: Works before a noun or after a verb, often followed by to: incomprehensible to most readers.
Patterns
- incomprehensible to someone
- be completely incomprehensible
The instructions were so badly translated that they were incomprehensible.
His handwriting is incomprehensible to everyone but him.
The law was written in incomprehensible legal jargon.
adjectivecomparable
Impossible to explain or accept because it seems to make no sense or to go against reason.
Grammar: Describes behavior or events: an incomprehensible decision.
Patterns
- it is incomprehensible that something
- an incomprehensible act
It is incomprehensible to me that anyone would leave a dog in a hot car.
The senator's sudden change of mind was incomprehensible.
Such cruelty is incomprehensible.
Word forms
| comparative | more incomprehensible |
|---|---|
| superlative | most incomprehensible |
Common combinations
- totally incomprehensible
- The speech was totally incomprehensible.
- almost incomprehensible
- The rules were almost incomprehensible to newcomers.
- incomprehensible to
- The code is incomprehensible to most users.
- incomprehensible jargon
- The manual is full of incomprehensible jargon.
- seem incomprehensible
- His choice seems incomprehensible.
- incomprehensible mumbling
- We heard only incomprehensible mumbling from the next room.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unintelligible
- Unintelligible mostly describes speech or writing that cannot be made out, while incomprehensible can also describe ideas and actions.
- baffling
- Baffling suggests a puzzle that confuses you, while incomprehensible suggests it cannot be understood at all.
- inexplicable
- Inexplicable means cannot be explained, whereas incomprehensible means cannot be understood by the listener.
- impenetrable
- Impenetrable suggests a barrier of complexity, such as dense prose, that cannot be broken through.
Opposites
Word family
- incomprehensibly adverb
- in a way that cannot be understood
- incomprehensibility noun
- the quality of being impossible to understand
- comprehend verb
- to understand fully
- comprehension noun
- the ability to understand
- comprehensible adjective
- able to be understood
Commonly confused: incomprehensible or incomprehension? incomprehensible or comprehensive?
incomprehensible vs incomprehension
Incomprehension is a noun for the state of failing to understand, while incomprehensible describes the thing that cannot be understood.
incomprehensible vs comprehensive
Comprehensive means complete and covering everything, and it is not the same as comprehensible.
Practice
Which word best describes a manual so confusing that nobody could follow it?
Choose one answer.
Incomprehensible means impossible to understand. Comprehensive means thorough, so it would not describe a confusing manual.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incomprehensible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.