Dictionary

inevitability en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɪˌnɛvɪtəˈbɪlɪti/

Etymology

Etymology tree English inevitable Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English inevitability From inevitable + -ity.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The condition of being inevitable.
   • Smalling’s quick one-two of yellow cards towards the end of the first half had left an air of inevitability about what would follow and, if anything, it was probably a surprise that City restricted themselves to Sergio Agüero’s goal bearing in mind another of United’s defenders, Marcos Rojo, was taken off on a stretcher early in the second half with a dislocated shoulder. 2014 November 2, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in The Guardian:
   • Surveillance capitalism is a human creation. It lives in history, not in technological inevitability. 2019 January 20, John Naughton, quoting Shoshana Zuboff, “‘The goal is to automate us’: welcome to the age of surveillance capitalism”, in The Guardian:
   • Manchester United's 27-year-old captain cut a distracted and chaotic figure as he endured a personal nightmare, its conclusion with a red card carrying an air of inevitability from the moment he recklessly launched himself at Yussuf Poulsen to pick up an early yellow. 2020 October 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-1 Denmark: 'Harry Maguire looked devoid of confidence in Nations League loss'”, in BBC Sport:
   • Now, cramped and outclassed as Euston has become, rebuilding hangs over it with an awful inevitability. 1941 August, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The English Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 358:
2. (countable) An inevitable condition or outcome.

Forms

Antonyms

contingency · evitability · impossibility

Deriveds

noninevitability · point of inevitability

Synonyms

certainty (condition of being inevitable) · sure thing (something inevitable) · inescapableness (condition of being inevitable) · necessity (condition of being inevitable)

Translations (31)

el αναπόφευκτο (the condition of being inevitable) · de Unausweichlichkeit (the condition of being inevitable) · de Zwangsläufigkeit (the condition of being inevitable) · az qaçılmazlıq (the condition of being inevitable) · el αναπόφευκτο (an inevitable condition or outcome) · de Zwangsläufigkeit (an inevitable condition or outcome) · hi अपरिहार्यता (the condition of being inevitable) · pl nieuchronność (the condition of being inevitable) · ka გარდაუვალობა (the condition of being inevitable) · ja 必然性 (the condition of being inevitable) · uk немину́чість (the condition of being inevitable) · uk невідворо́тність (the condition of being inevitable) · ja 不可避 (the condition of being inevitable) · de Unvermeidlichkeit (the condition of being inevitable) · sv ofrånkomlighet (an inevitable condition or outcome) · ro inevitabilitate (an inevitable condition or outcome) · fi väistämättömyys (an inevitable condition or outcome) · fi väistämättömyys (the condition of being inevitable) · ru неотврати́мость (the condition of being inevitable) · sv ofrånkomlighet (the condition of being inevitable) · pl nieuchronność (an inevitable condition or outcome) · es inevitabilidad (the condition of being inevitable) · hu elkerülhetetlenség (the condition of being inevitable) · ru неизбе́жность (the condition of being inevitable) · ja 必然 (the condition of being inevitable) · nl onvermijdelijkheid (an inevitable condition or outcome) · nl onvermijdelijkheid (the condition of being inevitable) · ro inevitabilitate (the condition of being inevitable) · sv oundviklighet (the condition of being inevitable) · sv oundviklighet (an inevitable condition or outcome) · de Unausweichlichkeit (an inevitable condition or outcome)