1
as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
an irretrievable drug addict who had wasted a once-promising life
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2
as in irreparable
not capable of being repaired, regained, or undone
this is just an irretrievable mess, so let's start all over again
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Recent Examples of irretrievable
Many families, including some of Peter’s relatives, found ways to channel their grief to salvage something from their irretrievable loss.
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Amy Qin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024
Adam’s childhood home (remarkably, the same house in which Haigh himself grew up) is a maze of personal mysteries: old clothes, faded photographs and other relics of a palpable yet irretrievable past.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023
But Israelis intuitively understand that if this round of fighting ends with one more stalemate, then our military deterrence—shattered by the mass but intimate butchery of Oct. 7—could be irretrievable.
—Yossi Klein Halevi, WSJ, 3 Nov. 2023
Posner toys with plot points and character names, but the basic storyline is the same and the essential Chekhovian angst over squandered potential and irretrievable loss is preserved.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2023
See all Example Sentences for irretrievable 
Amy Qin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024
Adam’s childhood home (remarkably, the same house in which Haigh himself grew up) is a maze of personal mysteries: old clothes, faded photographs and other relics of a palpable yet irretrievable past.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023
But Israelis intuitively understand that if this round of fighting ends with one more stalemate, then our military deterrence—shattered by the mass but intimate butchery of Oct. 7—could be irretrievable.
—Yossi Klein Halevi, WSJ, 3 Nov. 2023
Posner toys with plot points and character names, but the basic storyline is the same and the essential Chekhovian angst over squandered potential and irretrievable loss is preserved.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2023
See all Example Sentences for irretrievable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irretrievable
Adjective
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That doesn’t mean Trump's opponents are facing a hopeless task.Gunther Peck / Made by History, TIME, 12 Dec. 2024
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As Queenie, navigating empty relationships and professional disappointments on a journey from self-sabotage to self-worth, Brown makes a whole person from a variety of attitudes — hopeful, hopeless, hungover, exuberant, fretful, thoughtful.Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Obviously, there would be massive irreparable harm there.David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Dec. 2024
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Loving parents instinctively prioritize their children’s safety, health and happiness, so a partner’s failure to do the same can create irreparable rifts.Mark Travers, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In the film, Claudia is diagnosed with an incurable illness and decides to end her life on her own terms at a clinic in Switzerland.Jamie Lang, Variety, 3 Dec. 2024
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Édith and Sébastien organized the trip after learning that three of their kids – Mia, Colin, and Laurent – would eventually go blind because of the incurable eye condition retinitis pigmentosa.Matthew Carey, Deadline, 18 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Not helping matters: Damian — who unbeknownst to Martha is still in Ingrid’s life — calmly informs Ingrid that the damage to the planet due to climate change is irreversible.Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2024
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More tests by a liver specialist revealed Sanchez had Stage 4 cirrhosis of the liver, which is irreversible even with medication.Daniel Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 15 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This kind of situation occurs when irrecoverable past investments drive decisions, even when those costs are irrelevant to future outcomes.Shanna Apitz, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
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The damage done by Biden-Harris is not irrecoverable.Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 1 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Only the heart’s memory, a delicate thread that binds us to eternity, tries to recover the unrecoverable — the fleeting moment with its mood, colors, and sounds.Andriy Sodomora (Tr. Sabrina Jaszi & Roman Ivashkiv), The Dial, 12 Dec. 2024
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Without access to the device, the conversation contents are unrecoverable.Lars Daniel, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Many thought that a healthy forest would never thrive in impoverished, mercury-laden topsoil and that the piles of sandy tailings, the residue from the gold mining effort, and the pools of wastewater were irremediable.Simeon Tegel, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024
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For example, if a package containing plasma is left outside during extreme weather conditions, like 20 degrees below freezing in Boston or 115-degree heat in Arizona, the contents could suffer irremediable damage that renders them unsafe for use.Guy Yehiav, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
Adjective
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So if Vegas is the accomplished old sibling that everyone wants to be like, and Utah is the incorrigible youngster doing it its own way, that would make the Kraken the middle child of the group.Sean McIndoe, The Athletic, 1 July 2024
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Trump’s parents shipped their incorrigible second son off to military school 90 minutes outside New York City just after his 13th birthday.James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near irretrievable
Cite this Entry
“Irretrievable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irretrievable. Accessed 4 Jan. 2025.
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