Meaning & use
Irretrievable
Last updated
Not able to be recovered, repaired, or put right.
See it in a sentence
The files were lost in the crash and proved irretrievable.
Their marriage had reached a point of irretrievable breakdown.
A note on using this word
Frequently appears in legal contexts, such as 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage', a standard ground for divorce in many jurisdictions.
Words with a similar meaning
irreparableunrecoverable
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
retrievablerecoverable
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Irretrievable”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.