Meanings
comparative more irresistible · superlative most irresistible · alternative dated irresistable
- Impossible to resist.
Though his account of written communication over the past 5,000 years necessarily has a powerful forward momentum, his diversions down the fascinating byways of the subject are irresistible: at what point did handwriting begin to express individual personality?
2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), archived from the original on 23 Nov 2013, page R291 more example
Where the breakdown of traditional authority set the poor of the earth on the march, where they left the obscurity of their misfortunes and streamed upon the market-place, their furor seemed as irresistible as the motion of the stars, a torrent rushing forward with elemental force and engulfing a whole world.
1963, Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, page 103 - Compellingly attractive.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveimpossible to resist; overpowering
adjectiveoverpoweringly attractive
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
- Proto-Italic*n̥-
- Latinin-
- Proto-Italic*wre-
- Latinre-
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*stísteh₂ti
- Proto-Italic*sistō
- Latinsistō
- Latinresisto
- Latinirresistibili
- Englishirresistible
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin irresistibilis, equivalent to ir- + resistible.
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀνυπόστατος
- ἀνυπόστατος (anupóstatos)not able to be resisted
Bulgarian неотразим, неудържим
- неотразим (neotrazim)not able to be resisted
- неудържим (neudăržim)not able to be resisted
Catalan irresistible
- irresistiblenot able to be resisted
Chinese Mandarin 不可抗拒
- 不可抗拒 (bùkěkàngjù)not able to be resisted
Czech neodolatelný
- neodolatelnýnot able to be resisted
Danish uimodståelig
- uimodståelignot able to be resisted
Dutch onweerstaanbaar
- onweerstaanbaarnot able to be resisted
Esperanto nerezistebla
- nerezisteblanot able to be resisted
Finnish vastustamaton
- vastustamatonnot able to be resisted
French irrésistible
- irrésistiblenot able to be resisted
German unwiderstehlich
- unwiderstehlichnot able to be resisted
Greek ακαταμάχητος
- ακαταμάχητος (akatamáchitos)not able to be resisted
Hungarian ellenállhatatlan
- ellenállhatatlannot able to be resisted
Italian irresistibile
- irresistibilenot able to be resisted
Japanese 逆らえない, 抗えない
- 逆らえない (sakaraenai)not able to be resisted
- 抗えない (aragaenai)not able to be resisted
Māori mōtohe
- mōtohenot able to be resisted
Norwegian Bokmål uimotståelig
- uimotståelignot able to be resisted
Polish nieodparty
- nieodpartynot able to be resisted
Portuguese irresistível
- irresistívelnot able to be resisted
Romanian irezistibil
- irezistibilnot able to be resisted
Russian неотрази́мый
- неотрази́мый (neotrazímyj)not able to be resisted
Spanish irresistible
- irresistiblenot able to be resisted
Swedish oemotståndlig
- oemotståndlignot able to be resisted
Vietnamese không thể cưỡng lại
- không thể cưỡng lạinot able to be resisted
Cite this entry
irresistible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irresistible
“irresistible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irresistible. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “irresistible,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irresistible.
Source: irresistible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.