irreversible

CEFRB2

/ˌɪr.ɪˈvɜː.sə.bəl/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Incapable of being reversed.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Incapable of being reversed or turned about or back; incapable of being made to run backwards.

Examples

  • Many people believe that global warming is irreversible.

  • The death penalty is final and irreversible.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled.

  2. Incapable of being reversed to the original state without consumption of free energy and increase of entropy.

More examples

In context

  • Lead can cause irreversible brain damage.

  • an irreversible sentence or decree

  • an irreversible engine

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The scientist warned that the damage to the ozone layer is blank, so we cannot fix it.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From ir- + reversible.