irrevocable

I1R1R1E1V4O1C3A1B3L1E1
UK/ɪˈɹɛvəkəbəl/UK/ˌɪɹəˈvəʊkəbəl/UK/ˌɪɹəˈvɒkəbəl/US/iˈɹɛvəkəbəl/

adjective

Unable to be retracted or reversed; final.

Similar
irreversibleirrepealableirrevokablesealed
Opposite
nonirrevocablerepealablereversiblerevocable
OriginMiddle French irrévocable ← Latin irrevocabilis →
Less commonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveirrevocable (not comparable)
  1. not comparableUnable to be retracted or reversed; final.

    Firm and irrevocable is my doom Which I have pass'd upon her; she is banish'd.

    c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]
    3 more examples

    I have talked thus to you, child, not to insult you for what is past and irrevocable, but to caution and strengthen you for the future.

    RQ:Fielding Tom Jones, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

    On each face, wonder and fear were painted vividly; each so still and silent, looking at the other over the black gulf of the irrevocable past.

    1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, chapter 61, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC

    Once again, Mario Cipollini has announced his definite, absolute, unswerving and irrevocable decision to retire, and this time he means it. Probably.

    2005 April 28, Samuel Abt, “Cycling: Cipo retires. Definitely. Absolutely. Yes. Probably”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Apr 2014

    Synonyms: irreversible, irrepealable · Antonyms: nonirrevocable, repealable, reversible, revocable

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveUnable to be retracted or reversed; final.

Similar
irreversibleirrepealable
Opposite
nonirrevocablerepealablereversiblerevocable

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveincapable of being retracted or revoked

Similar
irrevokablesealed
Opposite
revocable
Also see
sealedunrevocable

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinirrevocabilis
  2. Middle Frenchirrévocable
  3. Englishirrevocable

From Middle French irrévocable, from Latin irrevocabilis; equivalent to ir- + revoke + -able.

More words from Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مُبْرَم
  • مُبْرَم (mubram)unable to be retracted or reversed
Bulgarian безвъзвратен, окончателен
  • безвъзвратен (bezvăzvraten)unable to be retracted or reversed
  • окончателен (okončatelen)unable to be retracted or reversed
Catalan irrevocable
  • irrevocableunable to be retracted or reversed
Chinese Mandarin 不可撤销的
  • 不可撤销的unable to be retracted or reversed
Czech neodvolatelný
  • neodvolatelnýunable to be retracted or reversed
Danish uigenkaldelig
  • uigenkaldeligunable to be retracted or reversed
Dutch onherroepelijk
  • onherroepelijkunable to be retracted or reversed
Esperanto nerevokebla
  • nerevokeblaunable to be retracted or reversed
Finnish peruuttamaton
  • peruuttamatonunable to be retracted or reversed
French irrévocable, irréversible
  • irrévocableunable to be retracted or reversed
  • irréversibleunable to be retracted or reversed
  • irréfragableunable to be retracted or reversed
German unwiderruflich
  • unwiderruflichunable to be retracted or reversed
Greek αμετάκλητος
  • αμετάκλητος (ametáklitos)unable to be retracted or reversed
Hungarian visszavonhatatlan, megmásíthatatlan
  • visszavonhatatlanunable to be retracted or reversed
  • megmásíthatatlanunable to be retracted or reversed
  • megfellebbezhetetlenunable to be retracted or reversed
Italian irrevocabile
  • irrevocabileunable to be retracted or reversed
Japanese 取り返しのつかない
  • 取り返しのつかない (torikaeshi no tsukanai)unable to be retracted or reversed
Latin irrevocābilis
  • irrevocābilisunable to be retracted or reversed
Polish nieodwołalny
  • nieodwołalnyunable to be retracted or reversed
Portuguese irrevocável
  • irrevocávelunable to be retracted or reversed
Russian неизме́нный, необратимый
  • неизме́нный (neizménnyj)unable to be retracted or reversed
  • необратимый (neobratimyj)unable to be retracted or reversed
Spanish irrevocable
  • irrevocableunable to be retracted or reversed
Swedish oåterkallelig
  • oåterkalleligunable to be retracted or reversed
Ukrainian безповоротний, невідкличний
  • безповоротний (bezpovorotnyj)unable to be retracted or reversed
  • невідкличний (nevidklyčnyj)unable to be retracted or reversed
  • незмінний (nezminnyj)unable to be retracted or reversed
  • безвідкли́чний (bezvidklýčnyj)unable to be retracted or reversed
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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