different between enigmatic vs impenetrable

English

Alternative forms

• ænigmatic (archaic)
• ænigmatick (obsolete)
• enigmatick (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??n???mæt?k/

Adjective

enigmatic (comparative more enigmatic, superlative most enigmatic)

1. Pertaining to an enigma.
2. Mysterious.

   • Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

3. Defying description.
4. (variant) Enigmatical.

Synonyms

• (mysterious): See also Thesaurus:mysterious
• (defying description): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

French énigmatique

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eni??matik]

Adjective

enigmatic m or n (feminine singular enigmatic?, masculine plural enigmatici, feminine and neuter plural enigmatice)

1. enigmatic

Declension

Synonyms

• misterios

Related terms

• enigm?

English

Etymology

From Middle French impenetrable, from Latin impenetrabilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?p?n?t??b?l/, /?m?p?n?t??b?l/
• Hyphenation: im?pen?e?tra?ble

Adjective

impenetrable (not comparable)

1. Not penetrable.

   The fortress is impenetrable, so it cannot be taken.

   • The avalanche spread and stopped, locking everything it carried into an icy cocoon. It was now a jagged, virtually impenetrable pile of ice, longer than a football field and nearly as wide.

2. (figuratively) Incomprehensible; fathomless; inscrutable.

   Business jargon makes this document impenetrable, I can't understand it.

3. Opaque; obscure; not translucent or transparent.

   When night falls, she cloaks the world in impenetrable darkness.

Synonyms

• (not penetrable): impregnable, unfathomable
• (incomprehensible): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

Antonyms

• (not penetrable): penetrable, pregnable, fathomable
• (incomprehensible): See also Thesaurus:comprehensible

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin impenetr?bilis.

Adjective

impenetrable (masculine and feminine plural impenetrables)

1. impenetrable

Further reading

• “impenetrable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “impenetrable” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “impenetrable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “impenetrable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin impenetr?bilis.

Adjective

impenetrable (plural impenetrables)

1. impenetrable

Further reading

• “impenetrable” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.