Meanings
- not comparableIncapable of being replaced, especially because of uniqueness or finiteness.
irreplaceable batteries
4 more examples
irreplaceable family portrait
irreplaceable team member
For some purposes lead is unique and, apparently, irreplaceable. Battery plates may be an example of this.
1960, Economist Intelligence Unit (Great Britain), The Commonwealth and Europe (page 182)But whether or not the VCR makes a complete comeback, VHS enthusiasts agree that these tapes occupy an irreplaceable place in culture.
2021 February 20, Hannah Selinger, “Who Is Still Buying VHS Tapes?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2022
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Italic*n̥-
- Latinin-
- Middle Englishin-
- Englishir-
- Englishreplaceable
- Englishirreplaceable
From ir- + replaceable.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian незаменим
- незаменим (nezamenim)that cannot be replaced
Catalan irreemplaçable, insubstituïble
- irreemplaçablethat cannot be replaced
- insubstituïblethat cannot be replaced
Czech nenahraditelný
- nenahraditelnýthat cannot be replaced
Dutch onvervangbaar
- onvervangbaarthat cannot be replaced
Esperanto neanstataŭigebla
- neanstataŭigeblathat cannot be replaced
Finnish korvaamaton
- korvaamatonthat cannot be replaced
French irremplaçable
- irremplaçablethat cannot be replaced
German unersetzbar, unersetzlich
- unersetzbarthat cannot be replaced
- unersetzlichthat cannot be replaced
Hungarian pótolhatatlan
- pótolhatatlanthat cannot be replaced
Italian insostituibile
- insostituibilethat cannot be replaced
Latvian neaizstājams
- neaizstājamsthat cannot be replaced
Norwegian Bokmål uerstattelig
- uerstatteligthat cannot be replaced
Polish niezastąpiony
- niezastąpionythat cannot be replaced
Portuguese insubstituível
- insubstituívelthat cannot be replaced
Russian незамени́мый
- незамени́мый (nezamenímyj)that cannot be replaced
Spanish irreemplazable, insustituible
- irreemplazablethat cannot be replaced
- insustituiblethat cannot be replaced
Ukrainian незамі́нний
- незамі́нний (nezamínnyj)that cannot be replaced
Cite this entry
irreplaceable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irreplaceable
“irreplaceable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irreplaceable. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “irreplaceable,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irreplaceable.
Source: irreplaceable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.