irreversible.

Not capable of being undone or returned to the earlier state under the relevant conditions.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• irreversible change
• irreversible loss

On the page

The loss was irreversible because the only surviving record had been destroyed.

The study identified an irreversible change within the conditions it examined.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Normally non-gradable for a specified formal status; compare degree only where the context genuinely concerns a gradable capacity or characteristic. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: status distinction, institutional analysis, scope qualification, rights analysis. Disciplines: formal writing, institutional procedures, legal-administrative language. Commonness: moderately common.