irretrievable

adjective

ir·​re·​triev·​able ˌir-i-ˈtrē-və-bəl How to pronounce irretrievable (audio)
: not retrievable : impossible to regain or recover
irretrievability noun
irretrievably adverb

Examples of irretrievable in a Sentence

The data was irretrievable after the computer crashed. the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage
Recent Examples on the Web Given enough machinery and labor, roads were not irretrievable after all. Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024 Many families, including some of Peter’s relatives, found ways to channel their grief to salvage something from their irretrievable loss. Amy Qin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024 Adam’s childhood home (remarkably, the same house in which Haigh himself grew up) is a maze of personal mysteries: old clothes, faded photographs and other relics of a palpable yet irretrievable past. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023 But Israelis intuitively understand that if this round of fighting ends with one more stalemate, then our military deterrence—shattered by the mass but intimate butchery of Oct. 7—could be irretrievable. Yossi Klein Halevi, WSJ, 3 Nov. 2023 Posner toys with plot points and character names, but the basic storyline is the same and the essential Chekhovian angst over squandered potential and irretrievable loss is preserved. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2023 Entropy also means loss of opportunity: The water at the top of a dam can spin a turbine; at the bottom, that same energy has degraded, the potential to be useful irretrievable. WIRED, 27 Sep. 2023 For a moment, Zolciak and Biermann’s relationship looked irretrievable. Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 13 July 2023 And the only irretrievable loss of time has been due to our homeland’s irretrievable lapse into exhaustion. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'irretrievable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1702, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of irretrievable was in 1702

Dictionary Entries Near irretrievable

Cite this Entry

“Irretrievable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irretrievable. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

irretrievable

adjective
ir·​re·​triev·​able ˌir-i-ˈtrē-və-bəl How to pronounce irretrievable (audio)
: not capable of being recovered, regained, or remedied
irretrievably adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on irretrievable

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