irretrievably
Americanadverb
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.
A column here last week reminded readers that the U.S. faced a similar dilemma in 1945: how to convince a battered and irretrievably weakened Japan that the war was over.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
“It could be in no danger … or it could already be irretrievably lost.”
From MarketWatch • Feb. 4, 2026
His actions are irretrievably dangerous not only to himself but also to everyone on the planet.
From Salon • Jan. 23, 2026
But even if that were to happen, said Shosh Sasson, 72, there was a sense of something having been irretrievably shattered.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
You can’t just make yourself matter and then die, Alaska, because now I am irretrievably different, and I’m sorry I let you go, yes, but you made the choice.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
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.
