irretrievable
irretrievable — adjective
1. Something that is irretrievable has been so badly damaged, lost, or completely e
Something that is irretrievable has been so badly damaged, lost, or completely ended that it is impossible to recover it or bring back the situation that existed before.
After the fire, the old library's handwritten books were irretrievable, turned completely to ash.
predicate: be + irretrievable (final state)
When the hard drive failed, all of Nadia's baby photos became irretrievable.
pattern: become + irretrievable (change of state)
After years of silence and anger, the friendship between Leila and her cousin was irretrievable.
The drought caused irretrievable damage to the farmers' rice fields across the valley.
- irreparable
Focuses on damage or harm that cannot be fixed (e.g., irreparable harm to a reputation); narrower in use than irretrievable.
- irreversible
Describes processes or changes that cannot be undone (e.g., irreversible climate change); more about direction than loss.
- unrecoverable
Common for data or financial losses; less formal and more technical than irretrievable.
- lost
More general and informal; can mean simply missing, not necessarily permanently impossible to recover.
- retrievable
Able to be recovered or corrected; the direct opposite.
- recoverable
Possible to get back, especially for data or costs.
文法句型
be + irretrievable
become + irretrievable
irretrievable + noun (loss, damage, breakdown)
用法筆記
Typically used in formal contexts with nouns that describe loss, damage, breakdown, or destruction (e.g., irretrievable loss, irretrievable damage, irretrievable breakdown). Avoid using it before concrete objects (books, keys, phones) — instead place it after a linking verb (My phone fell into the river and is irretrievable).