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.
Rare earths, harder to separate and less valuable, are generally recycled alongside steel and end up irretrievably lost in a byproduct called slag.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
She describes Poly as both ever-present and irretrievably gone — an absence that structured the family, then fractured it when he finally joins them thanks to the Mariel boatlift of 1980.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
“It could be in no danger … or it could already be irretrievably lost.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
"I now realise how serious it is, it has seriously harmed by career as a teacher, possibly irretrievably, and this is a matter of deep regret and distress," he wrote.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2025
I never forgot that schooling had irretrievably changed my family’s life.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
