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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 Stepping back from the grim details to situate the upheaval in China’s broader history, Yang sees an inexorable dynamic at work. — Barbara Demick, The Atlantic, "Uncovering the Cultural Revolution’s Awful Truths," 18 Dec. 2020 And many independent theaters may not attempt to reopen, indie films having begun an inexorable transformation into online-only events. — Joe Morgenstern, WSJ, "How Covid-19 Changed Movies in 2020," 10 Dec. 2020 And that’s good news for aging athletes, since hormonal changes are easier to fight than the inexorable march of time. — Lindsay Warner, Outside Online, "The Athlete's Guide to Menopause," 8 Dec. 2020 Driving the sharp increase is the inexorable jump in daily cases. — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, "California COVID-19 crisis likely to get worse before it gets better as deaths, hospitalizations spike," 6 Dec. 2020 On a macro level, America’s soccer explosion is undeniable and seemingly inexorable. — Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "The pandemic isn't the only reason for the constant churn facing the USL," 15 Nov. 2020 Her advantage in the popular vote of nearly 3 million has animated the grievances of her supporters to this day, but the Electoral College arithmetic was inexorable and not to be challenged. — Michael Tackett And Calvin Woodward, Star Tribune, "Trump putting democracy to the test after his loss to Biden," 14 Nov. 2020 That’s a risk especially hard for Democrats to avoid when practically every instrument of the culture celebrates left-wing causes and works to create the sense that their triumph is inexorable. — Rich Lowry, National Review, "The Blue Trickle," 10 Nov. 2020 The math is inexorable as long as infection rates rise. — Fox News, "As coronavirus spikes, Europe runs low on ICU beds, hospital staff," 10 Nov. 2020

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.