inoperableadj.
/ɪnˈɒpərəb(ə)l/ That cannot be operated on; unfit for an operation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > unfit > for operation
inoperable1886
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > desperate state or condition > [adjective] > of persons: beyond cure or remedy > of disease or wound
recurelessc1425
unrecoverable1461
remedilessa1513
cureless1557
irrecoverable1594
unrecuring1594
immedicable1596
unruly1596
irrecured1598
irrelievable1670
irremediable1801
incorrigible1804
immedicinable1826
untreatable1865
inoperable1886
unrelievable1898
1886 Med. News Apr. 462 An article on the treatment of inoperable cancer.
1897 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 17 July 150 To try the value of the serum on selected inoperable cases of malignant disease.
Draft additions 1993
2. Of a device: unable to be operated or used; broken.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > [adjective] > unserviceable
unbriche1303
unable1390
unserviceable1535
inserviceable1607
impracticable1717
condemned1798
unusable1825
unadoptable1843
dis1925
bung1930
u/s1942
inoperable1949
1949 R. E. Kirk & D. F. Othmer Encycl. Chem. Technol. III. 683 Precautions should be taken to prevent the solution from sucking back..to the control valves and rendering these inoperable.
1973 Daily Tel. 27 Feb. 3/2 On the day of the accident eight of the fire extinguishers were inoperable.
1990 Skin Diver Mar. 146c/2 A missing flash sync cord renders the U/W strobe inoperable.
3. figurative. Of a scheme or practice: impossible to implement or operate; impractical, unworkable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > impossibility > [adjective]
unmightyOE
impossible1340
unpossiblea1382
unmightful?a1425
unfeasible1527
out of the question1607
card1813
unrealizable1832
irrealizable1853
inoperable1975
1975 Facts on File Yearbk. XXXV. 22/1 Near-monopoly and ‘administered’ prices render the forces of true competition inoperable.
1987 V. S. Naipaul Enigma of Arrival ii. 155 That gift of fantasy became inoperable as soon as I came to England in 1950.
1991 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 Oct. 36/3 ‘Feudalism’ was not simply destroyed by the decrees of August 4 but by the peasant uprisings, which made it inoperable in farms and villages.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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adj.1886