inexorable

English

WOTD – 1 February 2019

Etymology

From Middle French inexorable, from Latin inexōrābilis (“relentless, inexorable”) (or directly from the Latin word), from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + exōrābilis (“that may be moved or persuaded by entreaty; exorable”).^[1] Exōrābilis is derived from exōrāre^[2] (from exōrō (“to persuade, win over; to beg, entreat, plead”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out of’) + ōrō (“to beg, entreat, plead, pray; to deliver a speech, orate”), from ōs (“mouth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃éh₁os (“mouth”)) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈɛksɔɹəbəl/, /ɪnˈɛksɹəb(ə)l/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɛksɚəb(ə)l/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Hyphenation: in‧ex‧or‧a‧ble

Adjective

inexorable (comparative more inexorable, superlative most inexorable)

Impossible to prevent or stop; inevitable. [from mid 16th c.]
Synonyms: implacable, ineluctable, inescapable, unpreventable, unrelenting, unstoppable; see also Thesaurus:inevitable

Antonym: exorable
- 1592, Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penniless:
  […] but inexorable yron detaines him in the dungeon of the night, fo that (pure creature) hee can neither traffique with the mercers and tailers as he was wont, nor dominere in tavernes as hee ought.
- 1615, Pierre Charron, Of Wisdome: Three Bookes, page 356:
  What greater follie can there be, than for a man to torment himselfe for nothing, and that willingly and of purpose, to pray and importune him, whom he knowes to be inexorable; to knocke at that dore that cannot be opened?
- 1793, “[Appendix to the Tenth Volume of the Monthly Review Enlarged.] Art. XXII. Strictures upon the Discipline of the University of Cambridge, Addressed to the Senate. 8vo. pp. 53. 1s. 6d. Shepperson and Reynolds. 1792.”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume X, London: Printed for R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, page 568, column 1:
  [W]e ſhould no longer behold the ſad ſpectacle of ſo many miſerable captives of our ſpecies ſtretching forth their hands, and bending at the cloſe of their exiſtence, under the tyranny of imperious and inexorable habits, which gird them and carry them whither they would not.
- 1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, The Enchantress, pages 22–23:
  What was my knowledge? it only served to show its own vanity; what was my power, when its exercise only served to work out the decrees of an inexorable necessity? I had parted myself from my kind, but I had not acquired the nature of a spirit. I had lost of humanity but its illusions, and they alone are what render it supportable.
- 1862, Victor Hugo, “The Depths of Despair”, in Cha[rle]s E[dwin] Wilbour, transl., Les Misérables. Fantine. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: [George W.] Carleton, publisher, […], →OCLC, book 2, page 58, column 2:
  All this, laws, prejudices, acts, men, things, went and came above him, according to the complicated and mysterious movement that God impresses upon civilization, marching over him and crushing him with an indescribably tranquil cruelty and inexorable indifference.
- 2003 November 15, Norman Abjorensen, “The Dog Fence: By James Woodford: Text, 260pp, $30 [book review]”, in The Sydney Morning Herald‎^[1], Sydney, N.S.W., archived from the original on 31 January 2019:
  It is more than the story of the fence and those who maintain it. It is a journey not just into the inland and along the length of the fence; it is a journey into the Australian psyche, reminding us of the inexorable struggle against the implacable wilderness, of the thin line that separates the tamed from the untamed, and the unnamed menace that broods just beyond the last suburbs.
- 2004 September 20, Paul Rubens, “Thanks for Memory (but I Need More)”, in BBC News‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 July 2018:
  How quaint … an MP3 player that will store your entire record collection. The inexorable demand for more memory means we will soon be storing thousands of feature films in our pockets, and that's just for starters.
- 2018 October 8, Anne Perkins, “A Dad’s Army-style Brexit looms. ‘Don’t panic!’: Sentimental versions of our island story are a handicap when it comes to deciding Britain’s future”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 January 2019:
  No one, today, can miss the inexorable unfolding across the headlines and social media timelines of a transformed relationship between Britain and Europe.
- 2023 August 23, Philip Haigh, “Opportunities for train builders... and for further unrest”, in RAIL, number 990, page 51:
  I fear the future may hold another bitter industrial dispute, but there's an inexorable (but unwelcome) logic to the argument that level boarding [between platform and train] removes another role from guard's duties.
Unable to be persuaded; relentless; unrelenting. [from mid 16th c.]
Antonym: exorable
- 1759, William Robertson, “Book VIII”, in The History of Scotland, during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI, till His Accession to the Crown of England. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC, pages 202–203:
  Armed with the authority of theſe decrees, James [VI and I] reſolved to cruſh entirely the mutinous ſpirit of his ſubjects. […] The King continued inexorable, the city was declared to have forfeited its privileges as a Corporation, and to be liable to all the penalties of treaſon.
Adamant; severe.
Antonym: exorable
- 1631, William Twisse, “How God of a Most Lovinge Father Becomes a Severe and Inexorable Judge”, in A Discovery of D. Iacksons Vanitie. […], [Amsterdam]: [Printed by the successors of Giles Thorp, and at London by W. Jones], →OCLC, page 660:
  But to ſhew how God of a moſt loving Father becomes a ſevere and inexorable judge, without any change, this alone is to the purpoſe. For the very māner of propoſing it doth imply the ceaſing to be a loving Father which he was, but becomes a ſevere & inexorable judge, which he was not.
- 1735 December, “Fog’s Journal, Dec. 13. Nº 371. To the Renown’d Squire Walsingham.”, in The London Magazine: Or, Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer, volume VIII (New Series), London: Printed by C[harles] Ackers, […]; for T[homas] Cox, […]; J[ohn] Clarke, […]; and T[homas] Astley, […], →OCLC, page 668, column 1:
  You ſay, there is no Nation, except our own, where there is any Distinction made, betwixt Manſlaughter and Murder; and that the Edict against Duelling in France, is of all others the moſt inexorable. I muſt beg Leave to differ with you in both theſe Points; the Edict againſt Duelling is no more inexorable than any other Edict, but I believe it to be more juſt, becauſe founded upon the Law of God, […]