unrecoverable

adjective

un·​re·​cov·​er·​able ˌən-ri-ˈkə-və-rə-bəl 

-ˈkəv-rə-

1

: unable to be recovered, recaptured, or regained : hopelessly lost : irrecoverable

unrecoverable loans

2

: unable to be corrected : irremediable

an unrecoverable error/failure

an airplane in an unrecoverable spin

Synonyms

• hopeless
• incorrigible
• incurable
• irrecoverable
• irredeemable
• irreformable
• irremediable
• irretrievable
• unredeemable

Examples of unrecoverable in a Sentence

believed that there was no such thing as an unrecoverable criminal

the flood caused unrecoverable damage to our home

Recent Examples on the Web

The damaged flight data recorder had been deemed unrecoverable for data extraction by South Korean authorities, who sent it to the United States for analysis at the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board laboratory. —Paolo Confino, Fortune Asia, 11 Jan. 2025

Only the heart’s memory, a delicate thread that binds us to eternity, tries to recover the unrecoverable — the fleeting moment with its mood, colors, and sounds. —Andriy Sodomora (tr. Sabrina Jaszi & Roman Ivashkiv), The Dial, 12 Dec. 2024

Without access to the device, the conversation contents are unrecoverable. —Lars Daniel, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024

This means that once a PCC server is rebooted, no data is retained and, as an additional precaution, the entire system volume is cryptographically unrecoverable. —Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 11 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1