irrevocably

American  

[ih-rev-uh-kuh-blee] / ɪˈrɛv ə kə bli /

adverb

1. in a way that can never be reversed, undone, or canceled; permanently.

   The huge manuscript is unbound looseleaf and there are no page numbers, so if you drop it the whole thing is irrevocably scrambled.

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Other Word Forms

• nonirrevocably adverb

Etymology

Origin of irrevocably

irrevocab(le) ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

If you do something irrevocably, there's no going back. Irrevocably describes an action that can't be changed or reversed. When something's done permanently, it's happened irrevocably. If you break off a friendship irrevocably, it's final; you will never regain that friend again. Irrevocably comes from the Latin word irrevocabilis, meaning "unable to be recalled or reversed."

Example Sentences

Figures like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon were adventurers, and while perhaps not personally admirable, they changed history and changed it irrevocably:

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

"The world order and the multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed," she said, adding: "We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today."

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

“While there are still moments of acute crisis that arise, there is also acceptance and profound grief amongst our members that life is irrevocably different now.”

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2026

Obviously, your life is irrevocably changed when we lose that connection with mother, as mother is everything to a child.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2025

With the Greek conquest of all advanced societies from Greece east to India under Alexander the Great in the late fourth century B.C., power finally made its first shift irrevocably westward.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• certainly
• completely
• decisively
• definitely
• permanently