inescapable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inescapable
First recorded in 1785–95; in- 3 + escapable ( def. )
Explanation
Something that's inescapable is impossible to get away from. A reluctant swimmer may stop trying to talk his mom out of making him go to swimming lessons once he realizes that learning to swim is inescapable. Any force or occurrence or duty that you just can't avoid is inescapable. Feeling angry at people you love sometimes is inescapable, and children growing older is also inescapable. The adjective combines the prefix in, or "not, the opposite of," with escapable, which comes from the Vulgar Latin word excappare, literally "get out of one's cape," or "leave a pursuer holding just one's cape."
Vocabulary lists containing inescapable
The Honest Truth
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Winger
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"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens
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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 wide chasm between what Americans think about their job prospects and the relatively low unemployment rate yields an inescapable conclusion.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 11, 2026
The question of what exactly the war was for is inescapable and will not go away.
From BBC • Jun. 18, 2026
Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, inescapable in the 1990s, and American record producer Walter Afanasieff were also among the total of nine songwriters joining the Hall of Fame this year.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
No family has ever had a trio of siblings play for the women’s national team, and the pressure of having to match the success her sisters have had will be inescapable, if unfair, for Zoe.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026
Rain caused one to reflect on the shadowed, more poignant parts of life—the inescapable sorrows, the speechless longings, the disappointments, the regrets, the cold miseries.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
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.
