Meaning & use
inevitable
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Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Certain to happen and not able to be prevented or avoided.
Grammar: Not graded with more or most; use almost or virtually for near certainty.
Patterns
- inevitable result
- seem inevitable
- delay the inevitable
With costs rising, a price increase seemed inevitable.
Change is inevitable when a town doubles in size.
We postponed the inevitable repair until the brakes began to squeal.
Common combinations
- seem inevitable
- After three delays, cancellation began to seem inevitable.
- inevitable consequence
- Higher demand was an inevitable consequence of the new transit line.
- delay the inevitable
- Patching the roof only delayed the inevitable replacement.
- virtually inevitable
- Once the river flooded, evacuation was virtually inevitable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unavoidable
- Unavoidable emphasizes that nothing can prevent it; inevitable often sounds more like a natural result.
- certain
- Certain is broader and can describe confidence about facts; inevitable fits events or outcomes.
- inescapable
- Inescapable stresses that there is no way out, often of a duty or conclusion.
Opposites
Word family
- inevitability noun
- The quality of being certain to happen.
- inevitably adverb
- As is certain to happen.
Commonly confused: inevitable or evitable?
inevitable vs evitable
Evitable is rare; the common negative form is inevitable, meaning not avoidable.
Practice
Choose the best completion: Given the forecast, rain during the outdoor concert is ____.
Choose one answer.
A forecast pointing to certain rain makes rain inevitable; avoidable contradicts it, impossible reverses it, and accidental is unrelated to certainty.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inevitable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.