inedible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inedible
Explanation
The adjective inedible is good for describing a food that cannot be eaten, like your grandmother's burnt toast, or an object that shouldn't be eaten, like your snow boots. Some things are literally inedible, like your dining room table or a cast iron skillet, while others are described as inedible in a more figurative way: "I can't stand cilantro — now this taco is totally inedible!" The word has been around since the early 1800s to mean "unfit to eat," combining the Latin prefix in, which means "not" or "the opposite," with edibilis, "eatable" in Late Latin.
Vocabulary lists containing inedible
The Sea of Monsters
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Everything, Everything
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The Last Beekeeper
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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.
Large-scale manufacturing has become essential to feeding the world’s population, and processes such as fermentation can transform inedible and poisonous plants into dietary staples.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Composed of bran flour pieces, it was hard and virtually inedible.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026
The food was often inedible, and the water was discolored.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026
Unfortunately for you, your cake is undercooked and, essentially, inedible.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
The authorities liked to say that we received a balanced diet; it was indeed balanced — between the unpalatable and the inedible.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
