beyond recall

Idioms  

1. Irreversible, irretrievable, as in We can't repair this screen—it's beyond recall, or It's too late to cancel our plans—they're beyond recall. This idiom employs recall in the sense of revoking or annulling something. [Mid-1600s]

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Example Sentences

Some memories were beyond recall, even with the photos.

From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2021

From the late seventies, when the glamour seemed beyond recall, she sequestered herself in her Paris apartment.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 19, 2015

The basic gist, that once fallen by the wayside “she” is gone beyond recall, remains embedded in our culture.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2013

You're supposed to remember the sights, the sounds, the smells, the roar of the crowd, but those things are all hazy beyond recall.

From The Guardian • Jan. 26, 2011

What evil it saith I do not know; but I trace here a copy of it, lest it fade beyond recall.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Related Words

• desperate
• forlorn
• helpless
• impossible
• pointless
• sad
• tragic
• useless