unavoidable
Americanadjective
adjective
-
unable to be avoided; inevitable
-
law not capable of being declared null and void
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unavoidable
1570–80; un- 1 + avoidable ( def. )
Explanation
Use the adjective unavoidable to describe something that you can't escape or avoid. Going to your family reunion is unavoidable if there's no way for you to get out of it. Obligations are unavoidable, since they are responsibilities that have to be honored. Letting your grandmother pinch your cheek is unavoidable, and paying your rent is also unavoidable. As you get older, it's unavoidable that your knees will get stiffer — there is no way to avoid having this happen. Unavoidable comes from the verb avoid, which is rooted in the Anglo-French avoider, "to clear out or withdraw oneself."
Vocabulary lists containing unavoidable
"Core Curriculum: Introductory Craft Skills," Vocabulary from Module Four
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Shut Up, This Is Serious
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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.
Unavoidable hidden charges for online customers, or "drip pricing", is set to be banned under new law proposals.
From BBC • Jan. 23, 2024
Q. Unavoidable boorish guests: My sister-in-law of 27 years, like her own sister and, to a lesser extent, my husband, have serious food fussiness.
From Slate • Oct. 17, 2016
Unavoidable perhaps, but food for thought in MLS this weekend.
From The Guardian • Sep. 5, 2014
He was a troubled son at odds with a conniving father in “The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin.”
From New York Times • Apr. 24, 2014
Unavoidable; in fact, less likely to raise suspicion with the frequent changes that occur if he goes to the same regiment than if he went to another.
From No Man's Land by McNeile, H. C. (Herman Cyril)
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.
