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
Etymology
Origin of irreconcilable
First recorded in 1590–1600; ir- 2 + reconcilable
Explanation
Your dad wants Mozart in the car and you want Eminem? That's an irreconcilable difference right there — two tastes or ideas or preferences so different from each other there can be no compatibility or middle ground. Diplomacy can't help, only headphones. Where would divorce lawyers be without this lovely word irreconcilable? Their clients don't just have differences with their spouses, they have "irreconcilable differences" — in other words, demands or points of view so distant from each other they can never be bought together. Bye-bye marriage, hello legal fees.
Vocabulary lists containing irreconcilable
Opposites Attract
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Go Set a Watchman
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The Federalist Papers, No. 78 by Alexander Hamilton
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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.
"I think you would be surprised to hear members on these topics. I think they are much more closer than simply binary positions that are irreconcilable," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
There’s nothing more riveting on stage than the truth, and here we have human beings in all their flagrant, unadorned and seemingly irreconcilable complications.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Overall though, Sir Simon says: "I'm not taking sides. I think the answer is to get both sides round the table. A lot of what seem to be irreconcilable differences are actually reconcilable."
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Cook “are almost comically irreconcilable as a matter of logic,” argues Mark in a piece that explains how the justices simultaneously expanded executive power while insulating the one agency it appears to truly value.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
The debates in the ratifying conventions of the respective states only exposed the irreconcilable differences of opinion that the Constitution had so deftly bundled together.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
