irresistible

See also: irrésistible

English

Alternative forms

• irresistable (dated)

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin irresistibilis, equivalent to ir- +‎ resistible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈzɪs.tə.bəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

irresistible (comparative more irresistible, superlative most irresistible)

1. Impossible to resist.
   • 1963, Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, page 103:

     Where the breakdown of traditional authority set the poor of the earth on the march, where they left the obscurity of their misfortunes and streamed upon the market-place, their furor seemed as irresistible as the motion of the stars, a torrent rushing forward with elemental force and engulfing a whole world.

   • 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review [print edition: Illuminating language]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎^[1], page R29:

     Though his account of written communication over the past 5,000 years necessarily has a powerful forward momentum, his diversions down the fascinating byways of the subject are irresistible ...

2. Compellingly attractive.

Synonyms

• overpowering

Derived terms

• irresistibility
• irresistible grace
• irresistibleness
• irresistibly
• superirresistible

Translations

not able to be resisted

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: irresistible
• Bulgarian: неотразим (bg) (neotrazim), неудържим (bg) (neudǎržim)
• Catalan: irresistible
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不可抗拒 (zh) (bùkěkàngjù)

• Czech: neodolatelný (cs)
• Danish: uimodståelig
• Dutch: onweerstaanbaar (nl)
• Esperanto: nerezistebla
• Finnish: vastustamaton
• French: irrésistible (fr)
• Galician: irresistible (gl), irresistíbel (gl)
• German: unwiderstehlich (de)
• Greek: ακαταμάχητος (el) (akatamáchitos)

  Ancient Greek: ἀνυπόστατος (anupóstatos)

• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: ellenállhatatlan (hu)
• Italian: irresistibile (it)
• Japanese: 逆らえない (sakaraenai), 抗えない (aragaenai)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Manx: neuhassooagh-noi
• Māori: mōtohe
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uimotståelig

  Nynorsk: uimotståeleg

• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: nieodparty (pl)
• Portuguese: irresistível (pt)
• Romanian: irezistibil (ro)
• Russian: неотрази́мый (ru) (neotrazímyj)
• Spanish: irresistible (es)
• Swedish: oemotståndlig (sv)
• Vietnamese: không thể cưỡng lại

Asturian

Adjective

irresistible (epicene, plural irresistibles)

1. irresistible

   Antonym: resistible

Further reading

• “irresistible”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

From ir- +‎ resistible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [i.rə.zisˈtib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [i.re.zisˈti.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

irresistible m or f (masculine and feminine plural irresistibles)

1. irresistible

   Antonym: resistible

Derived terms

• irresistiblement

Further reading

• “irresistible”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “irresistible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “irresistible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “irresistible”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Alternative forms

• irresistíbel
• irresistível (reintegrationist)

Adjective

irresistible m or f (plural irresistibles)

1. irresistible

   Antonyms: resistible, resistíbel

Derived terms

• irresistiblemente

Further reading

• “irresistible”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From ir- +‎ resistible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iresisˈtible/ [i.re.sisˈt̪i.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: i‧rre‧sis‧ti‧ble

Adjective

irresistible m or f (masculine and feminine plural irresistibles)

1. irresistible

   Antonym: resistible

Derived terms

• irresistiblemente

Further reading

• “irresistible”, 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