inextricable
/ˌɪnɪkˈstrɪkəbəl/
inextricable means impossible to untie or disentangle. It carries an Arena rating of 1700, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, inextricable ranks #1,209 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,049 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,266 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,230 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
inextricable is pronounced /ˌɪnɪkˈstrɪkəbəl/.
Why “inextricable” is a great word
Impossible to disentangle, separate, or escape from. From Middle French inextricable, from Latin inextricabilis, from in- ("not") + extricabilis ("able to be disentangled"), from extricare ("to disentangle"), first recorded in English 1375–1425. Unlike "complicated," which suggests a difficult but potentially solvable puzzle, or "inseparable," which implies a chosen or natural union, inextricable describes a binding so complete that the very idea of separation becomes a logical fallacy. It is the gnarled root system of an ancient forest, the hopeless snarl of a cherished necklace, the debt that accrues faster than wages—a state where to pull one thread is to unravel the whole self, and separation would mean destruction of the whole.
Etymology
From Middle French inextricable, from Latin inextricabilis.
adj
- Impossible to untie or disentangle.e.g.“And when it comes to far-right anti-Semitism, hatred of Jews is inextricable from opposition to socialism.” — 2020, Joel Swanson, “Are anti-Semitism fears stopping Jewish Dems from supporting Bernie Sanders?”, in The Forward:
- Impossible to solve.
- Impossible from which to escape.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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