interminable
/ɪnˈtɜː(ɹ).mɪn.ə.bəl/
interminable means existing or occurring without interruption or end; ceaseless, unending. It carries an Arena rating of 1625, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, interminable ranks #958 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,665 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #2,559 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,177 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
interminable is pronounced /ɪnˈtɜː(ɹ).mɪn.ə.bəl/.
Why “interminable” is a great word
Seeming to have no end, especially in a tedious or wearisomely protracted way. From Middle English interminable, from Middle French interminable, from Late Latin interminābilis, from Latin in- ("not") + termināre ("to limit, end") + -bilis ("able"). First recorded in English in the late 14th century. Unlike "eternal," which suggests a timeless, often beatific quality of forever, or "incessant," which merely stresses constant repetition, "interminable" describes a singular duration that oppresses through its wearying length. It is the second hand's crawl in the hour before a dismissal, the featureless gray ribbon of highway under a flat sky, the third hour of a windowless meeting—a secular purgatory, a time that has forgotten how to become time.
Etymology
From Middle English interminable, from Middle French interminable and its etymon Late Latin interminābilis. By surface analysis, in- + terminable.
adj
- Existing or occurring without interruption or end; ceaseless, unending.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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