Dictionary

irresistible en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈzɪs.tə.bəl/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti Proto-Italic *sistō Latin sistō Latin resisto Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin irresistibilislbor. English irresistible Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin irresistibilis, equivalent to ir- + resistible.

Meanings

1. 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 R29:
   • 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:
2. Compellingly attractive.

Forms

Deriveds

superirresistible · irresistibleness · irresistible grace · irresistibly · irresistibility

Synonyms

overpowering

Translations (31)

ru неотрази́мый (not able to be resisted) · gl irresistíbel (not able to be resisted) · bg неудържим (not able to be resisted) · nl onweerstaanbaar (not able to be resisted) · vi không thể cưỡng lại (not able to be resisted) · fr irrésistible (not able to be resisted) · sv oemotståndlig (not able to be resisted) · da uimodståelig (not able to be resisted) · fi vastustamaton (not able to be resisted) · grc ἀνυπόστατος (not able to be resisted) · es irresistible (not able to be resisted) · pt irresistível (not able to be resisted) · ro irezistibil (not able to be resisted) · mi mōtohe (not able to be resisted) · ast irresistible (not able to be resisted) · eo nerezistebla (not able to be resisted) · it irresistibile (not able to be resisted) · cmn 不可抗拒 (not able to be resisted) · ja 逆らえない (not able to be resisted) · hu ellenállhatatlan (not able to be resisted) · ja 抗えない (not able to be resisted) · ca irresistible (not able to be resisted) · bg неотразим (not able to be resisted) · gv neuhassooagh-noi (not able to be resisted) · nn uimotståeleg (not able to be resisted) · el ακαταμάχητος (not able to be resisted) · pl nieodparty (not able to be resisted) · gl irresistible (not able to be resisted) · nb uimotståelig (not able to be resisted) · de unwiderstehlich (not able to be resisted) · cs neodolatelný (not able to be resisted)