irreparable

irreparable
irreparable, irrepairable
Irreparable, meaning ‘that cannot be recovered or made good’, is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, and is used of circumstances and relationships, typically qualifying words such as consequences, loss, harm, injury, and damage. The word used to describe physical objects, machines, etc., that cannot be repaired is irrepairable (or unrepairable, not repairable, beyond repair), pronounced with the stress on the third syllable as in repair; but irreparable damage is the normal expression whether or not the damage is physical:

• These people were supposed to be making us fit and instead they were doing irreparable damage to my heart and lungs —J. Herriott, 1977

• The strikers had defied a decree…to end the strike, which he said was causing irreparable damage to the economy —Keesings, 1990

• Headcount is down from a peak of 1,400 to 562,…and presumably that's about as far as it can go without irreparable damage to the business —business website, BrE 2002.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • irréparable — [ ireparabl ] adj. • 1234; lat. irreparabilis ♦ Qui ne peut être réparé. 1 ♦ (Abstrait) ⇒ irrémédiable . Tort, perte irréparable. « Pour réparer des ans l irréparable outrage » (Racine). Désastre, malheur irréparable. « Nous avions prononcé [...] …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • irreparable — ir·rep·a·ra·ble /i re pə rə bəl, prə bəl/ adj: impossible to repair, remedy, or undo ir·rep·a·ra·bly adv Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. irreparable …   Law dictionary

  • irreparable — Irreparable. adj. de tout genre. Qui ne se peut reparer. La perte du temps est irreparable. c est une injure irreparable. il luy a fait un affront irreparable. un dommage irreparable …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Irreparable — Ir*rep a*ra*ble, a. [L. irreparabilis: cf. F. irr[ e]parable. See {In } not, and {Reparable}.] Not reparable; not capable of being repaired, recovered, regained, or remedied; irretrievable; irremediable; as, an irreparable breach; an irreparable… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • irreparable — (adj.) early 15c., from O.Fr. irréparable (12c.), from L. irreparabilis irreparable, irrecoverable, from assimilated form of in not, opposite of (see IN (Cf. in ) (1)) + reparabilis that can be repaired (see REPAIR (Cf. repair)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • irreparable — adjetivo 1. Que no se puede reparar o remediar: Su muerte supone una pérdida irreparable para todos. Mi coche ha sufrido daños irreparables, tendré que comprarme otro …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • irreparable — [i rep′ə rə bəl] adj. [ME irreperable < OFr irréparable < L irreparabilis] not reparable; that cannot be repaired, mended, remedied, etc. irreparability n. irreparably adv …   English World dictionary

  • irreparable — [adj] unable to be fixed beyond repair, broken, cureless, destroyed, hopeless, impossible, incorrigible, incurable, irrecoverable, irredeemable, irremediable, irremedial, irreplaceable, irretrievable, irreversible, ruined, uncorrectable,… …   New thesaurus

  • irreparable — Irreparable, Irreparabilis. Virg …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • irreparable — (Del lat. irreparabĭlis). adj. Que no se puede reparar …   Diccionario de la lengua española

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