Word of the Day

: April 23, 2019

inexorable

adjective i-NEK-suh-ruh-bul

What It Means

: not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped : relentless

inexorable in Context

"The question is, what is Nashville anymore, if not gritty joints that nurtured musicians and songwriters? Yes, change is the inexorable constant, but at such an accelerated pace, we are seeing the fabric of Nashville culture being ripped away and replaced with the glitz not of rhinestones, but of klieg lights and slick outsiders spoiling for a deal." — Jim Myers, The Nashville Ledger, 1 Mar. 2019

"As the cost of public school leadership continues its inexorable rise, so do the taxpayer-funded pensions received by educators when they retire." — David McKay Wilson, lohud.com, 7 Mar. 2019

Did You Know?

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."