inoperable

See also: inopérable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Italic *n̥-

Latin in-bor.

Middle English in-

English in-

Latin operābilisbor.

English operable

English inoperable

From in- + operable.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

inoperable (not comparable)

1. (surgery) Incapable of being successfully operated on.

   Antonym: operable

   Near-synonym: incurable

2. Incapable of operation or function; inoperative.
   • 2021 August 11, Ben Jones, “Network News: Main line steam servicing facility for Cornwall”, in RAIL, number 937, page 27, photo caption:

     MPower Kernow will clear and repair the currently inoperable turntable - allowing steam locomotives to be turned in Cornwall again and opening up the potential for new charter operations.

Derived terms

• inoperability
• inoperably

Translations

surgery: incapable of being successfully operated

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: inoperable
• Dutch: inoperabel (nl), niet te opereren
• Finnish: leikkauskelvoton
• French: inopérable (fr)
• German: nicht operierbar
• Greek: μη χειρουργήσιμος (mi cheirourgísimos)
• Italian: inoperabile
• Latin: inoperābilis
• Polish: nieoperacyjny
• Portuguese: inoperável
• Romanian: inoperabil (ro)
• Russian: неопера́бельный (ru) (neoperábelʹnyj)
• Spanish: inoperable

incapable of function

• Esperanto: nefunkcianta, nefunkciantaj pl
• Finnish: toimintakyvytön
• French: inopérant (fr)
• Greek: ανεγχείρητος (el) (anencheíritos)
• Polish: niesprawny (pl)
• Romanian: neoperabil (ro)

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish in-

Spanish operar

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ābilis

Old Spanish -abile

Spanish -able

Spanish operable

Spanish inoperable

From in- + operable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inopeˈɾable/ [i.no.peˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: i‧no‧pe‧ra‧ble

Adjective

inoperable m or f (masculine and feminine plural inoperables)

1. inoperable
2. inoperative

Further reading

• “inoperable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025