irreconcilable
Americanadjective
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incapable of being brought into harmony or adjustment; incompatible.
irreconcilable differences.
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incapable of being made to acquiesce or compromise; implacably opposed.
irreconcilable enemies.
noun
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a person or thing that is irreconcilable.
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a person who is opposed to agreement or compromise.
adjective
noun
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a person or thing that is implacably hostile or uncompromisingly opposed
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(usually plural) one of various principles, ideas, etc, that are incapable of being brought into agreement
Other Word Forms
- irreconcilability noun
- irreconcilableness noun
- irreconcilably adverb
Etymology
Origin of irreconcilable
First recorded in 1590–1600; ir- 2 + reconcilable
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.
Both sides may be issuing largely maximalist lists of irreconcilable demands but there is still a suggestion of a possible meeting in Pakistan.
From BBC
So much of contemporary literature reads like a tortured attempt to negotiate between the irreconcilable positions of righteous expression and guilty silence.
A schism in the House of Windsor looks irreconcilable.
A schism in the House of Windsor looks irreconcilable.
The very concept of the U.S.—a nation that opens itself to people from around the world—is irreconcilable with far-right German blood-and-soil ideology.
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.