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.
The team describes the early findings as promising for a cancer that remains incurable, but the results are still preliminary and involve a relatively small group of patients.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
At age 13, after one hour with a psychiatrist, she was told she had bipolar disorder, an incurable brain illness.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
For 20 years, its orange groves have been ravaged by an incurable disease that causes fruit to drop before it is ripe, and leaves it tasting bitter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
The singer disclosed in 2022 that she had been was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
If only I could play a head-bopping song that would put an end to this incurable disease.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
