unteachable

American  

[uhn-teech-uh-buhl] / ˌʌnˈtitʃ ə bəl /

adjective

1. difficult or impossible to teach.

---

Other Word Forms

• unteachability
  noun
• unteachableness
  noun
• unteachably
  adverb

Explanation

If there's no way to instruct someone how to do something, either the thing or the person might be described as unteachable. Some people think that a sense of humor is unteachable — you're either funny, or you're not! While some subjects and concepts can be taught, others — the unteachable things — just can't. Math, grammar, and how to brush your teeth are all teachable. While not everyone agrees on what qualifies as being unteachable, some believe that talent and personal qualities like empathy, common sense, patience, and charisma fall into this category. Occasionally, a person may be described as unteachable, but this gives short shrift to the abilities of all humans to learn if they're taught in a way that works for them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unteachable

"Back in Ukraine we were told he was unteachable, that there was no school for him," his mum Olga says as she makes packed lunches in the family's small kitchen.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2022

Cooking requires a certain level of skill and knowledge and a deep level of intuition, the latter being unteachable and none of it easily acquired.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2022

But as a scientist, too, I also found myself shaking my head and asking: Are we just as unteachable?

From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2021

It’s a magical moment — George Saunders became George Saunders! — but one defined by unteachable randomness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2021

Looking back, I can’t believe that those same unteachable kids who refused to speak to each other are today’s Freedom Writers . . . the same Freedom Writers who became a family.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers