Interminable Meaning
/ɪnˈtɜː(ɹ).mɪn.ə.bəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjExisting or occurring without interruption or end; ceaseless, unending.
nounA repeating decimal.
Sentence Examples
This lesson is interminable!
The interminable border wars between England and Scotland came to a close.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The lecture seemed ____, lasting for over three hours without any breaks.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The meeting felt ____, as the speaker continued to talk about boring details for more than three hours.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English interminable, from Middle French interminable and its etymon Late Latin interminābilis. By surface analysis, in- + terminable.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"After supper Sir Pitt Crawley began to smoke his pipe; and when it became quite dark, he lighted the rushlight in the tin candlestick, and producing from an interminable pocket a huge mass of papers, began reading them, and putting them in order."
— 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Crawley of Queen’s Crawley”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 61:
"The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway."
— 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 193:
"It was now a beautiful, moonlit night. The air was crisp and invigorating. Behind them lay the interminable vista of the desert, dotted here and there with an occasional oasis."
— 1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Through the Valley of the Shadow”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 137:
"Life's interminable succession of stages."
— 1983 February 5, Joseph Van Ness, “Keeping It Alive”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 28, page 10:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The lecture seemed ____, lasting for over three hours without any breaks.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The meeting felt ____, as the speaker continued to talk about boring details for more than three hours.