irreclaimable

[ ir-i-kley-muh-buhl ]

adjective

1. incapable of being reclaimed or rehabilitated:

   an irreclaimable swamp; irreclaimable offenders.

irreclaimable

/ ˌɪrɪˈkleɪməbəl /

adjective

1. not able to be reclaimed

Derived Forms

• ˌirreˈclaimably, adverb
• ˌirreˌclaimaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of irreclaimable¹

First recorded in 1600–10; ir- ² + reclaimable ( def )

Example Sentences

He understood that once Cully had slept in freedom for a whole night he would be wild again and irreclaimable.

From Literature

But here is where you may well wonder why on earth you have devoted an irreclaimable and precious few minutes of your life to reading this stuff - because it is plausible that losing the AAA will have little economic impact.

From BBC

The reports of explorers led to the conclusion that the vast inland area of our continent was an irreclaimable arid desert, save when, at long and uncertain intervals, it was ravaged by destructive floods, the water from which, licked up by a fiery sun or absorbed by a porous subsoil, disappeared from the surface with marvellous rapidity.

From Project Gutenberg

In Claud's mind was a bitter thought which has countless times occurred to most of us, that the past is absolutely irreclaimable.

From Project Gutenberg

He caught his breath with something like a sigh of regret for an irreclaimable past.

From Project Gutenberg