indelible
/ɪnˈdɛlɪb(ə)l
/adjective
1(Of ink or a pen) making marks that cannot be removed: an indelible marker pen...
- If you ask Liberians if they voted, they will proudly show you their thumb painted with indelible ink, the mark of the voter.
- Voters who do turn up to the polling stations today will have their thumb marked with indelible ink to prevent them voting more than once.
- Voters will have their finger marked with indelible ink to avoid repeat ballots.
1.1Not able to be forgotten: the story made an indelible impression on me...
- Both the weather and the cost of living seem to have left an indelible impression on the star's memory since his last visit, but he said he would still be keen to make another film here.
- Learning through hands-on experiences leaves a more indelible impression.
- Witnessing the devastation and tragic scenes of human suffering left an indelible impression on Burchett and had a profound effect on the rest of his life.
Derivatives
indelibility
- No matter how much one scrubs away the dirt, or says no, what we are all left with is the indelibility of life and the directions taken when saying yes.
- We are confident that the temporal relation and the colour and indelibility of the stains point to beetroot pigment as the cause.
- The ink exhibits a high indelibility and a low tendency towards the formation of microprecipitates.
Origin
Late 15th century (as indeleble): from French, or from Latin indelebilis, from in- 'not' + delebilis (from delere 'efface, delete'). The ending was altered under the influence of -ible.