Meaning & use
inescapable
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
impossible to avoid or get away from
Grammar: Describes a noun; it does not usually take 'very' or appear in comparative forms.
Patterns
- inescapable conclusion
- inescapable fact
- inescapable feeling
After weeks of rain, flooding seemed inescapable.
There is an inescapable logic to her argument.
He had the inescapable feeling that someone was watching him.
adjectivenot comparable
impossible to escape from a place or situation
Grammar: Often used for physical or metaphorical traps.
Patterns
- inescapable prison
- inescapable trap
- inescapable cycle
The castle was an inescapable prison for the captured king.
Poverty can feel like an inescapable cycle.
They were caught in an inescapable net of regulations.
Common combinations
- inescapable conclusion
- The evidence led to the inescapable conclusion that he was guilty.
- inescapable fact
- It is an inescapable fact that the climate is changing.
- inescapable feeling
- She had an inescapable feeling of dread.
- inescapable logic
- The inescapable logic of the situation forced them to act.
- inescapable truth
- The inescapable truth is that we need to change our habits.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unavoidable
- More common in everyday speech and often used for practical situations like delays or costs.
- inevitable
- Focuses on something certain to happen, rather than something you cannot get away from.
- ineluctable
- Very formal and literary; used mainly in writing about fate or logic.
Opposites
Word family
- escape verb
- to get away from a place or situation
- escapable adjective
- possible to avoid or get away from
Commonly confused: inescapable or inescapably?
inescapable vs inescapably
This is the adverb form, meaning 'in a way that cannot be avoided', as in 'The two are inescapably linked.'
Practice
The evidence pointed to the ______ conclusion that the company had broken the law.
Choose one answer.
'Inescapable' is the adjective that describes 'conclusion' (a conclusion you cannot avoid). 'Inescapably' is an adverb and would need to modify a verb or adjective, 'escapable' means the opposite (able to be avoided), and 'escape' is a verb or noun, not an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inescapable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.