irreclaimable

[ ir-i-kley-muh-buhl ]

adjective
  1. incapable of being reclaimed or rehabilitated: an irreclaimable swamp; irreclaimable offenders.

Origin of irreclaimable

1
First recorded in 1600–10; ir-2 + reclaimable

Other words from irreclaimable

  • ir·re·claim·a·bil·i·ty, ir·re·claim·a·ble·ness, noun
  • ir·re·claim·a·bly, adverb

Words Nearby irreclaimable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use irreclaimable in a sentence

  • But I am an irreclaimable wanderer, and it is some time since I have been home.

    The Half-Hearted | John Buchan
  • It is not his business to reform bad artists, who are probably quite irreclaimable.

    Oscar Wilde | Arthur Ransome
  • And the great majority of them, I fear, are even more irreclaimable than their comrades in other communities.

    Tramping with Tramps | Josiah Flynt
  • Evil surroundings weigh more in producing criminals than heredity, and their children are not irreclaimable.

  • Their irregular shape also condemns them for the most part with the many admirable but irreclaimable crooked rugs.

    The Oriental Rug | William D. Ellwanger

British Dictionary definitions for irreclaimable

irreclaimable

/ (ˌɪrɪˈkleɪməbəl) /


adjective
  1. not able to be reclaimed

Derived forms of irreclaimable

  • irreclaimability or irreclaimableness, noun
  • irreclaimably, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012