1
as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
unfortunately, he was destined to live out his days as an irrecoverable alcoholic
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in irreversible
not capable of being repaired, regained, or undone
one computer file proved to be irrecoverable after the crash
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of irrecoverable
Countless documents were left lying out in the open and quickly became irrecoverable.
—
Amer Matar, The Dial, 26 May 2026
At the same time, much of the world is facing water bankruptcy, meaning people and industries are using more fresh water than nature can replenish, leading to irrecoverable ecosystem damages.
—Abraham Nunbogu, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
An irrecoverable loss of the entirety of our personal data.
—Shannon Bond, NPR, 11 Mar. 2026
Broadly speaking, this is probably not irrecoverable damage to the ecosystem.
—Shaun McKinnon, AZCentral.com, 5 Jan. 2026
Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787's engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.
—Dan Catchpole, USA Today, 18 July 2025
Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787’s engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 16 July 2025
Crestfallen fans have begun demanding refunds for hundreds of dollars in ticket purchases to defray irrecoverable travel and lodging costs.
—Jia H. Jung, Mercury News, 11 July 2025
Customs Duty, which is irrecoverable. Import VAT, which can be reclaimed, provided correct steps are taken.
—Robert Marchant, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Amer Matar, The Dial, 26 May 2026
At the same time, much of the world is facing water bankruptcy, meaning people and industries are using more fresh water than nature can replenish, leading to irrecoverable ecosystem damages.
—Abraham Nunbogu, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
An irrecoverable loss of the entirety of our personal data.
—Shannon Bond, NPR, 11 Mar. 2026
Broadly speaking, this is probably not irrecoverable damage to the ecosystem.
—Shaun McKinnon, AZCentral.com, 5 Jan. 2026
Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787's engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.
—Dan Catchpole, USA Today, 18 July 2025
Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787’s engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 16 July 2025
Crestfallen fans have begun demanding refunds for hundreds of dollars in ticket purchases to defray irrecoverable travel and lodging costs.
—Jia H. Jung, Mercury News, 11 July 2025
Customs Duty, which is irrecoverable. Import VAT, which can be reclaimed, provided correct steps are taken.
—Robert Marchant, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irrecoverable
Adjective
-
At least Duncan’s daughter and fellow cadet, Teela (Eire Farrell), takes pity on the hopeless tyke.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
4 June 2026
-
Hence the constant reports that young people are anxious, lonely, stressed, hopeless.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
27 May 2026
Adjective
-
Coral reefs, for example, are passing their planetary tipping point, a threshold that, once crossed, leads to large, accelerating, and often irreversible changes.—
Simmone Shah,
Time,
9 June 2026
-
Yet other, more controversial projects, exacting irreversible change to capital institutions, are facing greater opposition.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
The message had found us, against steep odds, but the meaning was irretrievable.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
27 Apr. 2026
-
For Isaac, the film also captures something irretrievable.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
What was so irreparable, so insufferable?—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
-
The damage can lead to further problems and be irreparable.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
Adjective
-
The business also has made Space Shuttle drag parachutes for the orbiter, and parachutes that deploy from the tails of F-22 and F-35 military jets to break them from unrecoverable stalls or spins.—
Pat Maio,
Oc Register,
29 May 2026
-
By the time the offline assay confirmed what the cells were doing, hours had passed, and the batch was unrecoverable.—
Hamid Noori,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Chronic pulmonary fibrosis is an incurable lung condition where scarring of the lung tissue complicates breathing, per People.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
5 June 2026
-
Just two days later, an MRI scan showed that the keen gymnast and netball player had an inoperable and incurable DIPG.—
Adam England,
PEOPLE,
25 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Irrecoverable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irrecoverable. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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