unavoidable
Americanadjective
adjective
-
unable to be avoided; inevitable
-
law not capable of being declared null and void
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unavoidable
1570–80; un- 1 + avoidable ( def. )
Explanation
Use the adjective unavoidable to describe something that you can't escape or avoid. Going to your family reunion is unavoidable if there's no way for you to get out of it. Obligations are unavoidable, since they are responsibilities that have to be honored. Letting your grandmother pinch your cheek is unavoidable, and paying your rent is also unavoidable. As you get older, it's unavoidable that your knees will get stiffer — there is no way to avoid having this happen. Unavoidable comes from the verb avoid, which is rooted in the Anglo-French avoider, "to clear out or withdraw oneself."
Vocabulary lists containing unavoidable
"Core Curriculum: Introductory Craft Skills," Vocabulary from Module Four
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Shut Up, This Is Serious
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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.
If anything, the fight has shown the neighbors of Maysville just how unavoidable AI has become.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The operator of the plant, whose four reactors built with Soviet-era technology are cooled by water pumped from the Danube, warned earlier that a shutdown was "unavoidable".
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
The findings support an encouraging conclusion: memory decline is not unavoidable.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
To the extent that significant unavoidable and genuinely catastrophic physical and financial damage to Florida crops caused by severe weather has not been addressed by other programs, federal help may be warranted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
When it passed in front of us, the smiling, black-and-white cow painted on its side was unavoidable.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
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.
