inexorable

adjective

in·ex·o·ra·ble | \ (ˌ)i-ˈneks-rə-bəl

, -ˈnek-sə-, -ˈneg-zə-rə-

Definition of inexorable

: not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped : relentless inexorable progress

Other Words from inexorable Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about inexorable

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Other Words from inexorable

inexorability \ (ˌ)i-ˌneks-rə-ˈbi-lə-tē

, -ˌnek-sə- , -ˌneg-zə- \ noun

inexorableness \ (ˌ)i-ˈneks-rə-bəl-nəs

, -ˈnek-sə- , -ˈneg-zə- \ noun

inexorably \ (ˌ)i-ˈneks-rə-blē

, -ˈnek-sə- , -ˈneg-zə-rə- \ adverb

Did You Know?

The Latin antecedent of inexorable is inexorabilis, which is itself a combination of the prefix in-, meaning "not," plus exorabilis, meaning pliant or "capable of being moved by entreaty." It's a fitting etymology for inexorable. You can beseech and implore until you're blue in the face, but that won't have any effect on something that's inexorable. Inexorable has been a part of the English language since the 1500s. Originally, it was often applied to persons, or sometimes to personified things ("deaf and inexorable laws"). These days, it is usually applied to things, as in "inexorable monotony" or "an inexorable trend." In such cases, it essentially means "unyielding" or "inflexible."

Examples of inexorable in a Sentence

the inexorable rise of a political movement

Recent Examples on the Web

This information allowed the ballistic computer to then anticipate the bullet’s slow but inexorable drop due to gravity and advise the shooter where to aim to strike the target. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Army’s Next Infantry Guns Will Have Computerized Fire Control for Unreal Accuracy," 14 Feb. 2019 At the time, the seemingly inexorable decline of print advertising wasn’t the paper’s only problem; digital-ad revenue was dropping, too. — Alexandra Bruell, WSJ, "The Woman Behind the New York Times’ High-Risk, High-Reward Business Strategy," 15 Aug. 2018 For that to be possible, matter must be able to resist the inexorable pull of gravity, contrary to what Einstein’s theory of general relativity suggests. — Frank Wilczek, WSJ, "Black Holes May Have ‘Hair’ That We Can See," 3 Jan. 2019 But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. — Michelle Manetti, Good Housekeeping, "Meghan McCain Writes Deeply Moving Tribute to Her Late Father John McCain," 26 Aug. 2018 Alsop drew from the orchestra a slow-but-inexorable crescendo that eventually receded to a whisper. — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, "CSO at Ravinia review: Marin Alsop poetically launches Bernstein tribute," 13 July 2018 But most recently, the number of orcas here has dwindled to just 75, a 30-year-low in what seems to be an inexorable, perplexing decline. — New York Times, "Orcas of the Pacific Northwest Are Starving and Disappearing," 9 July 2018 In the true, inexorable tradition of Greek tragedy, there is no getting out of it. — Gary Thompson, Philly.com, "Think these movies are too gory? The Greek myths they're based on are worse," 12 July 2018 Call it progress, the inevitable inexorable direction of taking control from the driver for the sake of automation, which incidentally, was first offered way back in the ’60s in the form of cruise control. — Robert Duffer, chicagotribune.com, "The shift is on: Manual transmissions may be endangered but they're also beloved," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'inexorable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.