indeclinable

American  

[in-di-klahy-nuh-buhl] / ˌɪn dɪˈklaɪ nə bəl /

adjective

Grammar.

1. not capable of being declined; having no inflected forms: used especially of a word belonging to a form class most of whose members are declined, as the Latin adjective decem, “ten.”

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indeclinable British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈklaɪnəbəl /

adjective

1. (of a noun or pronoun) having only one form; not declined for case or number

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Other Word Forms

• indeclinableness noun
• indeclinably adverb

Etymology

Origin of indeclinable

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin indēclīnābilis unchangeable, inflexible. See in- ³, declinable

Example Sentences

“I have the experience of resistance and I have the experience of making indeclinable decisions.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 13, 2023

Note 2.—Many numerals, otherwise indeclinable, are used in the genitive plural with the indefinite pronoun sum, which then means one of a certain number.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by Smith, C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso)

But whenever these words are used adjectively to denote gender, whether we choose to insert the hyphen or not, they are, without question, indeclinable, like other adjectives.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

Fas was at all times indeclinable, and is rarely found even as an accusative, as in Virg.

From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by Fowler, W. Warde

Then, above Brahma, was lifted Brahm, a god neuter and indeclinable; neuter as having no part in life, indeclinable because unique.

From The Lords of the Ghostland A History of the Ideal by Saltus, Edgar