inexhaustible
Americanadjective
-
not exhaustible; incapable of being depleted.
an inexhaustible supply.
-
untiring; tireless.
an inexhaustible runner.
adjective
-
incapable of being used up; endless
inexhaustible patience
-
incapable or apparently incapable of becoming tired; tireless
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inexhaustible
1595–1605; < Latin inexhaust ( us ) not exhausted ( see in- 3, exhaust) + -ible
Explanation
When something is inexhaustible, you'll never run out of it. If your grandfather appears to have an inexhaustible supply of nostalgic stories, it seems like he could tell them forever. Unfortunately, if the kids you're babysitting have inexhaustible amounts of energy, they are never going to fall asleep. But if you've got an inexhaustible supply of Disney movies for them to watch, you'll be able to keep them distracted until their parents come home. This adjective combines the prefix in-, "opposite of," and exhaustible, from the Latin exhaurire, "take away, use up, or empty." So when something can't be used up, it's inexhaustible.
Vocabulary lists containing inexhaustible
Jimmy Carter, Speech from July 15, 1979
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Hollow City
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"Watership Down" by Richard Adams, Chapter 43-Epilogue
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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.
Inexhaustible energy to drive Neapolitans wild with happiness, Corriere dello Sport labelled the midfielder a 'dominant all-rounder' and manager Antonio Conte agrees.
From BBC • Oct. 29, 2024
But, in truth, he is merely a disgraced lawyer who has come to gamble away money that he fleeced from an elderly client, from what he calls his Inexhaustible Fund.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 23, 2014
Inexhaustible, and often exhausting, Rooney was less an actor than a showman.
From Time • Apr. 7, 2014
A version of this article appears in print on March 13, 2014, on page B18 of the with the headline: Providence’s Inexhaustible Player .
From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2014
The Inexhaustible being produced, staring, and evidently intending a weak and washy smile shortly, no sooner beheld her, than it was stricken spasmodic and inconsolable.
From Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, Charles
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.
