Meanings
- not comparableIncapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled.
an irreversible sentence or decree
2 more examples
Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese[…]began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death.
2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884, archived from the original on 25 May 2024“Even under a variety of policies, including plastic product reduction, waste management, and environmental recycling, microplastic pollution is irreversible and escalating.”
2024 December 17, Lex Harvey, “Microplastics are choking our waters. Could a sponge made of squid bones help remove them?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 06 Feb 2025 - not comparablenatural sciencesIncapable of being reversed to the original state without consumption of free energy and increase of entropy.
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-
- Latinir-
- Englishir-
- Englishreversible
- Englishirreversible
From ir- + reversible.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian неотменим, необратим
- неотменим (neotmenim)incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- необратим (neobratim)incapable of being reversed
Catalan irreversible
- irreversibleincapable of being reversed
Chinese Mandarin 不可逆轉的 /不可逆转的, 無可挽回的 /无可挽回的
- 不可逆轉的 /不可逆转的 (bùkě nìzhuǎn de)incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- 無可挽回的 /无可挽回的 (wúkě wǎnhuí de)incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- 不可逆 (bùkěnì)incapable of being reversed
Czech nevratný
- nevratnýincapable of being reversed
Dutch onomkeerbaar
- onomkeerbaarincapable of being reversed
Esperanto nereversebla, nereversebla
- nereverseblaincapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- nereverseblaincapable of being reversed
Estonian pöördumatu
- pöördumatuincapable of being reversed
Finnish peruuttamaton
- peruuttamatonincapable of being reversed
French irréversible
- irréversibleincapable of being reversed
German irreversibel, unumkehrbar
- irreversibelincapable of being reversed
- unumkehrbarincapable of being reversed
Greek αδιάστρεπτος, αμετάτρεπτος
- αδιάστρεπτος (adiástreptos)incapable of being reversed
- αμετάτρεπτος (ametátreptos)incapable of being reversed
Hungarian visszafordíthatatlan
- visszafordíthatatlanincapable of being reversed
Irish dochúlaithe
- dochúlaitheincapable of being reversed
Italian irreversibile
- irreversibileincapable of being reversed
Japanese 不可逆
- 不可逆 (fukagyaku)incapable of being reversed
Korean 돌이킬 수 없는, 뒤집을 수 없는
- 돌이킬 수 없는 (dorikil su eomneun)incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- 뒤집을 수 없는 (dwijibeul su eomneun)incapable of being reversed
Norwegian Bokmål irreversibel, irreversibel
- irreversibelincapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- irreversibelincapable of being reversed
Polish nieodwołalny, nieodwracalny
- nieodwołalnyincapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- nieodwracalnyincapable of being reversed
Portuguese irreversível, irreversível
- irreversívelincapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- irreversívelincapable of being reversed
Romanian ireversibil
- ireversibilincapable of being reversed
Russian необрати́мый
- необрати́мый (neobratímyj)incapable of being reversed
Spanish irreversible
- irreversibleincapable of being reversed
Swedish oåterkallelig, irreversibel
- oåterkalleligincapable of being reversed
- irreversibelincapable of being reversed
Tagalog ditumbalikin, ditumbalikin
- ditumbalikinincapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled
- ditumbalikinincapable of being reversed
Ukrainian незворотний, необоротни́й
- незворотний (nezvorotnyj)incapable of being reversed
- необоротни́й (neoborotnýj)incapable of being reversed
Welsh anghildroadwy
- anghildroadwyincapable of being reversed
Cite this entry
irreversible. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irreversible
“irreversible.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irreversible. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “irreversible,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/irreversible.
Source: irreversible on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.