Word of the Day

: February 7, 2011

interminable

adjective in-TER-muh-nuh-bul

What It Means

: having or seeming to have no end; especially : wearisomely protracted

interminable in Context

Sarah declared that, if she had to sit through one more interminable meeting where nothing was resolved, she would scream.

"With the exception of having to eat a couple of cold dinners caused by interminable rush-hour traffic jams, we survived Old Man Winter's first frontal assault of the season with our Minnesota Nice largely intact." -- From an article by Jeff Strickler in Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN), December 17, 2010

Did You Know?

We promise not to ramble on endlessly about the origins of "interminable." The word was borrowed into English in the 15th century and descends from a Latin combination of the prefix "in-" ("not") and the verb "terminare," meaning "to terminate" or "to limit." English speakers also coined the antonym "terminable," meaning "capable of being brought to an end," from "terminare." Other relatives of "interminable" in English include "terminate," "determine," "terminal," and "exterminate."