irrevocable

adjective

ir·​rev·​o·​ca·​ble i-ˈre-və-kə-bəl 

ˌi(r)-,

sometimes

ˌir-(r)ə-ˈvō-kə- 

: not possible to revoke : unalterable

an irrevocable decision

irrevocability

i-ˌre-və-kə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

ˌir-(r)ə-ˌvō-kə-

noun

irrevocableness

i-ˈre-və-kə-bəl-nəs 

ˌir-(r)ə-ˈvō-kə-

noun

irrevocably

i-ˈre-və-kə-blē 

ˌi(r)-

 sometimes  ˌir-(r)ə-ˈvō-kə-

adverb

Did you know?

Irrevocable and Trusts

Irrevocable has a formal sound to it and is often used in legal contexts. Irrevocable trusts are trust funds that cannot be dissolved by the people who created them (the other kind is a revocable trust). An irrevocable credit is an absolute obligation from a bank to provide credit to a customer. Irrevocable gifts, under U.S. tax law, are gifts that are given by one living person to another and can't be reclaimed by the giver. But the word isn't always legal; we've all had to make irrevocable decisions, decisions that commit us absolutely to something.

Examples of irrevocable in a Sentence

She has made an irrevocable decision.

Recent Examples on the Web

Many couples with assets in excess of $50 million, already took advantage of the high federal estate tax exemption by gifting $26 million to irrevocable trusts. —Christine Fletcher, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

At issue is the fact that James, Elisabeth, Prudence and Lachlan Murdoch, who is the sole chair of News Corp. as well as CEO of Fox, would split control of the business equally under the terms of an irrevocable trust. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024

For example, a business owner believed that the tax exemption would sunset and rushed to meet the maximum amount of the exemption and placed $5 million of liquid assets in an irrevocable trust. —Jessica Ledingham, J.d., Ll.m., Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024

Should their conditions worsen or improve, the end result is the same – promising an instant and irrevocable erasure of this demimonde forged from slumber. —Ben Croll, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin irrevocabilis, from in- + revocabilis revocable

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

irrevocable

adjective

ir·​rev·​o·​ca·​ble (ˈ)ir-ˈ(r)ev-ə-kə-bəl 

: not capable of being revoked

an irrevocable decision

irrevocability

(ˌ)ir-ˌ(r)ev-ə-kə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

irrevocably

(ˈ)ir-ˈ(r)ev-ə-kə-blē 

adverb

Legal Definition

irrevocable

adjective

ir·​rev·​o·​ca·​ble ir-ˈre-və-kə-bəl 

: not capable of being revoked

the offer was irrevocable for ten days

irrevocability noun

irrevocably adverb