IRRETRIEVABLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does irretrievable mean? 

• IRRETRIEVABLE (adjective)
  The adjective IRRETRIEVABLE has 1 sense:

1. impossible to recover or recoup or overcome

  Familiarity information: IRRETRIEVABLE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IRRETRIEVABLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impossible to recover or recoup or overcome

Synonyms:

irretrievable; unretrievable

Context example:

irretrievable errors in judgment

Similar:

irrecoverable; unrecoverable (incapable of being recovered or regained)

 Context examples 

He did not know the proper time to call, nor was there any one to tell him, and he was afraid of committing himself to an irretrievable blunder.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But I did not believe my errors to be irretrievable, and after much consideration I resolved to return to the cottage, seek the old man, and by my representations win him to my party.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Then, perceiving in Elizabeth no inclination of replying, she added, Unhappy as the event must be for Lydia, we may draw from it this useful lesson: that loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable; that one false step involves her in endless ruin; that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful; and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the undeserving of the other sex.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)