interminable

I1N1T1E1R1M3I1N1A1B3L1E1
UK/ɪnˈtɜː(ɹ).mɪn.ə.bəl/

adjective

Existing or occurring without interruption or end; ceaseless, unending.

UncommonScrabble 16

Meanings

adjectiveinterminable (comparative more interminable, superlative most interminable)

comparative more interminable · superlative most interminable

  1. Existing or occurring without interruption or end; ceaseless, unending.

    Life's interminable succession of stages.

    1983 February 5, Joseph Van Ness, “Keeping It Alive”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 28, page 10
    3 more examples

    After supper Sir Pitt Crawley began to smoke his pipe; and when it became quite dark, he lighted the rushlight in the tin candlestick, and producing from an interminable pocket a huge mass of papers, began reading them, and putting them in order.

    1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Crawley of Queen’s Crawley”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 61

    The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway.

    1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 193

    It was now a beautiful, moonlit night. The air was crisp and invigorating. Behind them lay the interminable vista of the desert, dotted here and there with an occasional oasis.

    1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Through the Valley of the Shadow”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 137
nouninterminable (plural interminables)

plural interminables

  1. datedmathematicsA repeating decimal.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivetiresomely long; seemingly without end

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Late Latininterminābilis
  2. Middle Frenchinterminable
  3. Middle Englishinterminable
  4. Englishinterminable

From Middle English interminable, from Middle French interminable and its etymon Late Latin interminābilis. By surface analysis, in- + terminable.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian безкраен
  • безкраен (bezkraen)existing or occurring without interruption or end
Catalan interminable
  • interminableexisting or occurring without interruption or end
Esperanto nefiniĝebla
  • nefiniĝeblaexisting or occurring without interruption or end
Finnish loputon, keskeytymätön
  • loputonexisting or occurring without interruption or end
  • keskeytymätönexisting or occurring without interruption or end
  • loppumatonexisting or occurring without interruption or end
Japanese 止められない
  • 止められない (yamerarenai)existing or occurring without interruption or end
Korean 끝없는
  • 끝없는 (kkeudeomneun)existing or occurring without interruption or end
Portuguese interminável
  • interminávelexisting or occurring without interruption or end
Romanian interminabil
  • interminabilexisting or occurring without interruption or end
Russian бесконе́чный, беспредельный
  • бесконе́чный (beskonéčnyj)existing or occurring without interruption or end
  • беспредельный (bespredelʹnyj)existing or occurring without interruption or end
Spanish interminable
  • interminableexisting or occurring without interruption or end
Ukrainian нескінченний, безмежний
  • нескінченний (neskinčennyj)existing or occurring without interruption or end
  • безмежний (bezmežnyj)existing or occurring without interruption or end
Cite this entry
APA

interminable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interminable

MLA

“interminable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interminable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interminable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interminable.

Source: interminable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.