UNFATHOMABLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unfathomable mean? 

• UNFATHOMABLE (adjective)
  The adjective UNFATHOMABLE has 3 senses:

1. of depth; not capable of being sounded or measured

2. resembling an abyss in depth; so deep as to be unmeasurable

3. incapable of being fully understood

  Familiarity information: UNFATHOMABLE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNFATHOMABLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of depth; not capable of being sounded or measured

Similar:

unsoundable (too deep to determine the depth of)

Also:

deep (having great spatial extension or penetration downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or laterally or outward from a center; sometimes used in combination)

Antonym:

fathomable ((of depth) capable of being sounded or measured for depth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Resembling an abyss in depth; so deep as to be unmeasurable

Synonyms:

abysmal; abyssal; unfathomable

Context example:

the abyssal depths of the ocean

Similar:

deep (having great spatial extension or penetration downward or inward from an outer surface or backward or laterally or outward from a center; sometimes used in combination)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Incapable of being fully understood

Similar:

incomprehensible; uncomprehensible (difficult to understand)

 Context examples 

I assured her that its profundity was quite unfathomable, and expressed my belief that nothing like it had ever been known.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The ideas that come to you now will emanate deep from within your subconscious, a well of unfathomable depth and a well-spring of new ideas.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Mr. Willoughby is unfathomable!

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She used to sit on the sand with his head in her lap by the hour rubbing her fingers over his eyes and looking at him with unfathomable delight.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)