untreatable

adjective

un·treat·able ˌən-ˈtrē-tə-bəl

: not yielding or responsive to medical treatment : not treatable

an untreatable disease

These infections cause an untreatable degeneration of the nervous system …—

Jared Diamond

The location of the cancer rendered him untreatable by further surgery.—

Nancy J. Kubel

untreatably

ˌən-ˈtrē-tə-blē

adverb

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Spencer, a 13-year-old who in recent years became a beloved figure on the race route, was recently diagnosed with untreatable liver cancer. —

Kate Armanini, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Jan. 2023 Many neurodegenerative diseases, or conditions that result from the loss of function or death of brain cells, remain largely untreatable. —

Kristine Zengeler, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2022 The bacterial cause of cholera, rendered effectively untreatable. —

Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 9 Apr. 2011 Today, immune cell therapy offers hope to people with cancer and other previously untreatable diseases. —

William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022 It was created under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) of 1992, legislation born from the efforts of HIV/AIDS activists to tear down regulatory hurdles to getting new drugs to people dying of the then-untreatable disease. —

Mikkael A. Sekeres, STAT, 21 Oct. 2022 His condition was, at the time, untreatable; he was futilely instructed to work no more than four hours a day. —

Edward Rothstein, WSJ, 6 Sep. 2022 The superbugs are resistant to all or nearly all antibiotics, kill up to half of patients who contract bloodstream infections, and can transfer their antibiotic resistance to other related bacteria, potentially making the other bacteria untreatable. —

BostonGlobe.com, 14 July 2022 The superbugs are resistant to all or nearly all antibiotics, kill up to half of patients who contract bloodstream infections, and can transfer their antibiotic resistance to other related bacteria, potentially making the other bacteria untreatable. —

BostonGlobe.com, 14 July 2022 See More

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