Ineluctable
Word of the Day
What is Ineluctable?
adjective
Impossible to avoid, escape, or resist; inevitable.
Pronunciation
Why This Word?
Chosen to reflect the sense that some transitions—new seasons, endings, reckonings—arrive with ineluctable certainty.
Examples of Use
Here's how this word appears in everyday language:
Demographic trends made reform seem ineluctable rather than optional.
He confronted the ineluctable consequences of years of neglect.
The tide’s return was as ineluctable as the moon’s pull.
Word Origins
Latin ineluctabilis from in- (“not”) + eluctari (“to struggle out, overcome”)
Entered English via learned usage; favored in philosophy and literature for its weightier nuance than “inevitable.”
First appearance in English: 17th century
Word Family
Related forms of this word:
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Noun:
The ineluctability of aging shaped the novel’s quiet wisdom.
-
Adjective:
The inevitable outcome was clear to everyone but him.
-
Adjective:
They faced the inexorable advance of the storm.
Around the World
How this word appears in other languages:
- Spanish: ineluctable
- French: inéluctable
- German: unausweichlich
- Italian: ineluttabile
- Portuguese: inelutável
If you Already Know This Word
If you've mastered this word, try these more advanced alternatives:
Inevitable
Close in meaning but more neutral; “ineluctable” stresses that resistance is futile.
Inexorable
Suggests relentless, unstoppable pressure; “ineluctable” focuses on impossibility of escape.
Unavoidable
Everyday register; “ineluctable” is formal and philosophical.
Fun Facts
- The word’s Latin root, *eluctari*, pictures wrestling one’s way out—*ineluctable* denies even that possibility.
- “Ineluctable” surged in literary modernism as a weighty alternative to “inevitable.”
Cultural Usage
- James Joyce writes of the “ineluctable modality of the visible,” meditating on perception and certainty.
- In debates on determinism, some argue that certain outcomes are ineluctable given prior conditions.
Common Mistakes
Often treated as a fancy synonym for “inevitable”; but “ineluctable” implies resistance is futile or conceptually impossible.
Micro Story
She accepted the ineluctable drift of autumn—change that felt both sorrowful and right.