incurable
Americanadjective
-
not curable; that cannot be cured, remedied, or corrected.
an incurable disease.
-
not susceptible to change.
his incurable pessimism.
- Synonyms:
- relentless, incorrigible
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incurable
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Late Latin incūrābilis; see in- 3, curable
Explanation
Something incurable can't be fixed or healed. Incurable diseases can sometimes be lived with, but they can't be cured. An incurable crush on a movie star means there's no getting over it, and being diagnosed with an incurable illness is always bad news, because no medicine can eliminate it. Your friends might call you an incurable optimist — this means you always see the glass as half-full, and there's no changing your cheerful nature. Incurable combines the prefix in-, "not," and curable, from the Latin cura, "care or concern," and also "means of healing."
Vocabulary lists containing incurable
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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"Dulce et Decorum Est," by Wilfred Owen
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The Martian Chronicles
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Incurable diseases provoke more cures than curable ones: when the black plague reigned, leaves and ritual burnings proliferated to protect you, even if none could.
From The New Yorker • Aug. 22, 2019
Incurable diseases from sickle cell to haemophilia now look as though they can be treated.
From BBC • Dec. 23, 2017
Anne saw an old Rin-Tin-Tin movie and told her diary about it; her teacher made her write an essay on an "Incurable Chatterbox" because she talked too much, and Anne recorded that too.
From Time Magazine Archive
Rose turned Catholic and founded, under the Dominican rule, the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer and headed the order until her death twelve years ago.
From Time Magazine Archive
"That three dollars belongs to the St. John's Home for Incurable Children!"
From The Motormaniacs by Osbourne, Lloyd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
