unavoidable

English

Etymology

From Middle English unavoidable, equivalent to un- +‎ avoidable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌnəˈvɔɪdəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

unavoidable (comparative more unavoidable, superlative most unavoidable)

1. Impossible to avoid; bound to happen.

   an unavoidable urge

2. (law) Not voidable; incapable of being made null or void.
   • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

     A confirmation is allied to a release, being a conveyance of an estate or right in esse whereby a voidable estate is made unavoidable

Usage notes

• See usage notes at inevitable.

Synonyms

• (impossible to avoid): inescapable, inevitable

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “impossible to avoid”): avoidable

Translations

impossible to avoid

Arabic: وَاجِب (ar) (wājib) Belarusian: непазбе́жны (be) (njepazbjéžny), няміну́чы (njaminúčy) Bengali: ওয়াজিব (bn) (ōẇajibo) Catalan: inevitable (ca) Cherokee: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 不可避免的 (bùkě bìmiǎn de), 免不了 (zh) (miǎnbuliǎo) Czech: nevyhnutelný (cs) Danish: uundgåelig Dutch: onvermijdelijk (nl), onontkoombaar (nl) Estonian: vältimatu (et) Faroese: óundansleppandi, óundankomandi Finnish: väistämätön (fi) French: inévitable (fr) Galician: inevitable (gl), inevitábel (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: unausweichlich (de), unvermeidlich (de), unvermeidbar (de) Greek: αναπόφευκτος (el) (anapófefktos) Ancient: ἀναπόδραστος (anapódrastos) Hebrew: בלתי־נמנע m (biltí-nimná) Hungarian: elkerülhetetlen (hu) Icelandic: óumflýjanlegur (is) Italian: inevitabile (it) Japanese: 不可避な (ja) (fukahi na), やむを得ない (ja) (yamu wo enai) Khmer: ដែលមិនអាចជៀសផុត (dael mɨn aac cieh pʰot) Latin: inevitabilis Latvian: nenovēršams, neizbēgams Old English: unforbugendlic Persian: اجتناب‌ناپذیر (fa) (ejtenâb-nâpazir) Polish: nieunikniony (pl) m Portuguese: inevitável (pt), incontornável (pt) Romanian: inevitabil (ro), de neocolit Russian: неизбе́жный (ru) (neizbéžnyj), немину́емый (ru) (neminújemyj), неотврати́мый (ru) (neotvratímyj), непредотврати́мый (ru) (nepredotvratímyj) Scottish Gaelic: do-sheachanta Slovak: nevyhnutný Spanish: inevitable (es), ineludible (es) Ukrainian: немину́чий (nemynúčyj) Volapük: please add this translation if you can Welsh: anochel (cy), anocheladwy (cy), anorfod (cy) Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

Noun

unavoidable (plural unavoidables)

1. Something that cannot be avoided.
   • 1825, The London magazine, volume 12, page 490:

     Forty years before, I had thought this odour one of the necessities of life — one of the unavoidables at least […]