inexorable
adjective
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The Latin antecedent of inexorable is inexorabilis, which is itself a combination of the prefix in-, meaning "not," plus exorabilis, meaning "pliant" or "capable of being moved by entreaty." It's a fitting etymology for inexorable. You can beseech and implore until you're blue in the face, but that won't have any effect on something that's inexorable. Inexorable has been a part of the English language since the 1500s. Originally, it was often applied to people or sometimes to personified things, as in "deaf and inexorable laws." These days, it is usually applied to things, as in "inexorable monotony" or "an inexorable trend." In such cases, it essentially means "unyielding" or "inflexible."
Examples of inexorable in a Sentence
Jane Yeh, The New York Review of Books, 8 May 2025
This emphasis on the human touch is an interesting move in an industry where the move towards automation has seemed inexorable.
—David Prosser, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
In Russia, state power and high culture have long existed in a pained, but seemingly inexorable, symbiosis.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2025
But the inexorable facts of mortality are glimpsed in the way the animals are depicted onstage.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for inexorable
Cite this Entry
“Inexorable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inexorable. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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inexorable
adjective
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