unrecoverableadj.
/ˌʌnrᵻˈkʌv(ə)rəbl/, U.S. /ˌənrəˈkəv(ə)rəb(ə)l/ 1. That cannot be recovered; irretrievably lost. Also (of coal, oil, etc.): that cannot be extracted.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > loss > [adjective] > lost > completely
unrecoverable?a1425
unrecurable1465
irrecuperable1483
unregainable1644
irrecoverable1645
irretrievable1695
retrieveless1703
spurlos versenkt1918
?a1425 (a1400) Brut (Corpus Cambr.) 319 (MED) Ȝet thilk Northren wynd..lost good wiþoute nombre vnrecouerable.
1448 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 401 Al sumes..bath recouerable and unrecouerable.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. Prol. l. 243 Thou swelch, devourar of tyme onrecoverabill.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. v. sig. D6 To lament the losse of such a iewell, so much the more, as that skilful men in that arte assured it was vnrecouerable.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary i. iii. vi. 278 The vnrecouerable losse of time.
1767 Exam. Dr. B. Franklin 29 I have a great many debts due to me in America, and I had rather they should remain unrecoverable by any law, than submit to the stamp-act.
1867 Westm. Rev. July 117/2 Now unrecoverable portions of ancient history.
1925 S. Chase Trag. Waste xii. 264 Coal and oil figures include the tonnage unrecoverable underground.
1995 Accountancy Nov. 78/3 6.3 trillion yen..is estimated to be unrecoverable by the Ministry of Finance.
2. Impossible to remedy or repair; unrectifiable. Also (of a wound, disease, patient, etc.): incurable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > desperate state or condition > [adjective] > of events, actions, etc.
unbootlyc1225
uncurablea1340
bootlessa1375
incurable1377
unremediablea1382
irreparablea1420
irrecuperable1430
unrecuperable?a1439
unrecoverable1461
unrecurable1465
remedilessa1513
remedeless1523
unrecompensablea1530
inemendable1532
immedicable1533
irrecoverablec1540
insanable1547
irremediable1547
irrecurable1548
unredeemable1551
cureless1557
unreparable1568
unrepairable1576
unmendable1584
unrelievablea1586
remedless1590
recurelessa1592
irrepairable1594
unrecovered1598
irremediless1602
unredressable1607
unsalvable1624
unrallied1651
reliefless1677
irrelievable1797
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
1461 in F. A. Gasquet Collectanea Anglo-premonstratensia (1906) II. 45 The Pryson of unrecuverable subversyon, Ruyne, destruction, inportable pauverte, & indigence.
1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips lxxvii. 533 The most certaine, vnrecouerable, and most weightie destruction of Rome.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xiii. xxxiv. 350 [To] make an vnrecouerable wound in your bellie.
1608 G. Markham & L. Machin Dumbe Knight iii. sig. E3 I do not thinke this ill Is yet so big as vnrecouerable.
1642 J. Vicars God in Mount 2 An unrecoverable cursed estate of damnation.
1796 G. Walker Theodore Cyphon II. iv. 68 On some who were far gone, we were obliged to sprinkle the water a little at a time, by which means..only one remained unrecoverable.
1888 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. Feb. 333 Loss of memory is so commonly associated with unrecoverable cases.
1981 Times 4 Feb. 16/7 He was obliged with his pilot to eject from a Javelin which had stabilized in an unrecoverable spin.
2007 Church Times 21 Dec. 49/2 The assumption that the Reformation caused a massive—and unrecoverable—collapse in the fortunes of the cathedrals seems odd.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
adj.?a1425