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unapproachable

[uhn-uh-proh-chuh-buh l]
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adjective
  1. not capable of being approached; remote; unreachable: an unapproachable spot; an unapproachable person.
  2. impossible to equal or rival: unapproachable mastery of her art.
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Origin of unapproachable

First recorded in 1575–85; un-1 + approachable
Related formsun·ap·proach·a·bil·i·ty, un·ap·proach·a·ble·ness, nounun·ap·proach·a·bly, adverb

Synonyms

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1. inaccessible, aloof, distant, austere, cold.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unapproachable

Historical Examples

  • As yet Wyndham was still the unknown, shadowy, far-off, and unapproachable.

    Audrey Craven

    May Sinclair

  • She existed, unapproachable, behind the blank wall of his renunciation.

    Chance

    Joseph Conrad

  • He looked as unconcerned and unapproachable as only the young can look.

    Lord Jim

    Joseph Conrad

  • Del Dardo would have swooned to see how Annina handled his Unapproachable.

    Little Novels of Italy

    Maurice Henry Hewlett

  • She was unapproachable in her own room when Mr. White and Mr. Morton came for them.

British Dictionary definitions for unapproachable

unapproachable

adjective
  1. discouraging intimacy, friendliness, etc; aloof
  2. inaccessible
  3. not to be rivalled
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Derived Formsunapproachableness, noununapproachably, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unapproachable

adj.

1580s, of places, from un- (1) "not" + approachable. Of persons, "distant, aloof," attested from 1848. Related: Unapproachably.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper