Did you know?
If you love grappling with language as much as we do, you’re sure to get a (flying) kick out of today’s word. Ineluctable, you see, has its roots in wrestling, a popular sport in ancient Greece and Rome. The Latin word luctator means “wrestler,” and luctari means “to wrestle,” as well as “to struggle, strive, or contend.” With the addition of e- (ex-) luctari became eluctari, meaning “to struggle clear of.” The negating prefix in- then piled on to form ineluctabilis, an adjective describing something that cannot be escaped or avoided. It is ineluctabilis that English speakers borrowed to form ineluctable, a word often used to describe fates that one cannot squirm free from, whether due to something as cosmic as the Fates themselves or as corporeal as a headlock.
Examples of ineluctable in a Sentence
Alexandra Petri,
The Atlantic,
3 June 2026
These works bear an ineluctable and intentional resemblance to European art traditions indebted to African sculpture (e.g., Picasso and Braque).
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Jillian Steinhauer,
New Yorker,
14 Nov. 2025
With tendrils of blonde hair always trying to escape her wimple, there’s an ineluctable sensuality about Agnieszka.
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Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Aug. 2025
The meanings of these images—which speak variously of environmental collapse, policy failure, ineluctable helplessness—do not invite their use as objects of contemplation.
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Teju Cole,
The New Yorker,
10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ineluctable
Cite this Entry
“Ineluctable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ineluctable. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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