unravellableunravelableadj.1
/(ˌ)ʌnˈrav(ə)ləbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈrævələb(ə)l/ Incapable of being unravelled; that cannot be disentangled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > [adjective] > of knots or bands > not loosened or becoming loose > unable to be loosened or undone
insoluble1382
unloosablec1425
inextricable1612
insolvable1652
dissolveless1706
unravellable1754
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > unintelligibility > inexplicableness > [adjective]
unplitable?c1425
unexplicable1532
inexplicable1546
subtle1547
irresolute1574
subtile1582
undissoluble1587
incomprehensible1604
unexpoundable1611
unfoldable1611
inexplainable1623
unsalvable1624
uninterpretable1625
indissolvable1637
unaccountable1643
inaccountable1647
unexplainablea1711
undecipherable1757
irresolvable1785
indecipherable1853
unconstruable1856
inconstruable1874
unravellable1881
1754 J. Kirkpatrick Anal. Inoculation iii. 73 We can form no precise Idea of the Manner of its Diffusion thro' the Nerves, or the unravellable Substance of the Brain.
1798 Henry Willoughby II. vi. 112 The plot of this pantomime was unravelable.
1838 Monthly Rev. May 93 I regret to say, has as yet been made, amidst, perhaps, almost unravelable perplexities.
1867 C. Dickens & W. Collins No Thoroughfare 2 May her track in life have involved itself in an intricate and unravellable tangle?
1881 A. J. Duffield tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. p. xlvi The putative Shelton renders an obvious printer's error.., and so makes unravellable nonsense of a phrase.
1905 A. M. Christie tr. J. Janssen Hist. German People VIII. iii. iii. 270 The well-nigh unravelable coil of reproaches, attacks, misrepresentations and calumnies, which half a century had wound round the Catholic Church.
1926 F. M. Ford Man could stand Up ii. 51 He got into appalling messes, unending and unravellable—no, she meant un-unravellable!
1997 Guardian 10 May i. 6/4 The precedent set threatened to create ‘wholly unravellable problems’ and bring chaos to planning law.
2012 K. A. Bradley Breathing & Walking Around 137 A hem so delicate as to be invisible and so strong as to be unravelable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
unravellableunravelableadj.2
/(ˌ)ʌnˈrav(ə)ləbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈrævələb(ə)l/ Capable of being unravelled; that can be disentangled.
ΚΠ
1825 Philos. Mag. & Jrnl. 31 Mar. 183 The current location, or natural distribution of the genera; which..I now believe to be a continuous one, that is unravelable in the way of a straight line.
1872 Preacher's Lantern 1 89 All these tales have a mystical meaning and life in them, not always easily unravelable.
1914 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 23 June 1217/1 Said sealing device consisting of a readily-unravelable single thread stitching comprising a plurality of stitches..having a free end adapted to be pulled to unravel said stitching.
1982 E. Leiva-Merikakis & J. Riches tr. H. U. von Balthasar Glory of Lord I. iii. 584 A knot elaborately tied by the Church which becomes less unravellable with each new proclamation of dogma.
2005 B. Masters Adventures in Steiner Educ. 123 No sentence becomes too complex to be grammatically unravellable by the 15-year-old's awakening intellect.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.11754adj.21825