Standard Lemma guide

irresistible

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈzɪs.tə.bəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 R IH0 Z IH1 S T AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Impossible to resist.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Compellingly attractive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

impossible to resist; overpowering

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • irresistible (or resistless) impulses
  • what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: resistless

Antonyms: resistible

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

overpoweringly attractive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • irresistible beauty

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re- Proto-Indo-European *steh2- Proto-Indo-European *stísteh2ti Proto-Italic *sistō Latin sistō Latin resisto Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin irresistibilislbor. English irresistible Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin irresistibilis, equivalent to ir- + resistible.

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: irresistible — not able to be resisted
  • Bulgarian: неотразим (neotrazim) — not able to be resisted
  • Bulgarian: неудържим (neudǎržim) — not able to be resisted
  • Catalan: irresistible — not able to be resisted
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不可抗拒 (bùkěkàngjù) — not able to be resisted
  • Czech: neodolatelný — not able to be resisted
  • Danish: uimodståelig — not able to be resisted
  • Dutch: onweerstaanbaar — not able to be resisted
  • Esperanto: nerezistebla — not able to be resisted
  • Finnish: vastustamaton — not able to be resisted
  • French: irrésistible — not able to be resisted
  • Galician: irresistible — not able to be resisted
  • Galician: irresistíbel — not able to be resisted
  • German: unwiderstehlich — not able to be resisted
  • Greek: ακαταμάχητος (akatamáchitos) — not able to be resisted
  • Ancient Greek: ἀνυπόστατος (anupóstatos) — not able to be resisted
  • Hungarian: ellenállhatatlan — not able to be resisted
  • Italian: irresistibile — not able to be resisted
  • Japanese: 逆らえない (sakaraenai) — not able to be resisted
  • Japanese: 抗えない (aragaenai) — not able to be resisted
  • Manx: neuhassooagh-noi — not able to be resisted
  • Māori: mōtohe — not able to be resisted
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uimotståelig — not able to be resisted
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: uimotståeleg — not able to be resisted
  • Polish: nieodparty — not able to be resisted
  • Portuguese: irresistível — not able to be resisted
  • Romanian: irezistibil — not able to be resisted
  • Russian: неотрази́мый (neotrazímyj) — not able to be resisted
  • Spanish: irresistible — not able to be resisted
  • Swedish: oemotståndlig — not able to be resisted
  • Vietnamese: không thể cưỡng lại — not able to be resisted
Real reading context

irresistible in complete knowledge articles