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Synonyms

inaccessible

American  
[in-uhk-ses-uh-buhl] / ˌɪn əkˈsɛs ə bəl /

adjective

  1. not accessible; unapproachable.

    Synonyms:
    unattainable, remote, unreachable

inaccessible British  
/ ˌɪnækˈsɛsəbəl /

adjective

  1. not accessible; unapproachable

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of inaccessible

From the Late Latin word inaccessibilis, dating back to 1545–55. See in- 3, accessible


Explanation

Can't get to something you want? It must be inaccessible. If it were accessible, you wouldn't have any trouble finding it. This word makes a lot of sense when you think about the word access, which is the ability to get at, use, or have something. Inaccessible things are out of reach. There are a lot of ways this word is used. A building without a ramp is often called inaccessible because people who use wheelchairs can't get in. People can be inaccessible too. If your doctor has office hours only one hour a day every two months, she's really inaccessible.

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Vocabulary lists containing inaccessible

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.

See Examples For:

AI is also being used to build a huge, searchable collection of previously inaccessible sources on Jewish history and culture by transcribing 10 million pages of Hebrew manuscripts.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Few Americans have probably heard of Yandex, let alone use its services, and most likely didn’t notice when many of its hosted websites became inaccessible.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026

Some phosphorus becomes trapped in minerals, making it effectively inaccessible to living things.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Forest Service uses drones to start controlled burns on inaccessible terrain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

And this was both odd and confusing to me, because ever since we’d arrived, the outside world had loomed in my imagination as someplace inaccessible yet wonderfully desirable.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

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