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Webster 1913 Edition

Inevitable

In-ev′i-ta-ble

Adj.

[L.

inevitabilis

: cf. F.

inévitable

. See

In-

not, and

Evitable

Not evitable; incapable of being shunned; unavoidable; certain.

“The inevitable hour.”

Gray.

It was

inevitable

; it was necessary; it was planted in the nature of things.

Burke.

Irresistible.

“Inevitable charms.”

Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition

Inevitable

INEV'ITABLE

Adj.

[L. inevitabilis; in and evitabilis, from evito, to shun.] Not to be avoided; that cannot be shunned; unavoidable; that admits of no escape or evasion. To die is the inevitable lot of man; we are all subjected to many inevitable calamities.

Definition 2024

inevitable

See also: inévitable

English

Adjective

inevitable ‎(not comparable)

Impossible to avoid or prevent.
We were going so fast that the collision was inevitable.
Predictable, or always happening.
My outburst met with the inevitable punishment.
- 2012 May 9, Jonathan Wilson, “Europa League: Radamel Falcao's Atlético Madrid rout Athletic Bilbao”, in the Guardian:
  Every break seemed dangerous and Falcao clearly had the beating of Amorebieta. Others, being forced to stretch a foot behind them to control Arda Turan's 34th-minute cross, might simply have lashed a shot on the turn; Falcao, though, twisted back on to his left foot, leaving Amorebieta in a heap, and thumped in an inevitable finish – his 12th goal in 15 European matches this season.
- 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl
  This horse and rider, with their free, rhythmical gallop, were the only moving things to be seen on the face of the flat country. They seemed, in the last sad light of evening, not to be there accidentally, but as an inevitable detail of the landscape.

Usage notes

Largely synonymous with unavoidable, slightly more formal (borrowed as a unit from Latin, rather than formed in English), and with nuances of a natural consequence that occurs after – “inevitable punishment”, “inevitable result”. By contrast, unavoidable has some nuance of existing circumstances – “I was unavoidably detained.” – without there necessarily being a cause.

Further, unavoidable has nuances of “could not have happened any other way, even if circumstances were different”, while inevitable connotes “given circumstances, this is the necessary result.” Compare “the disaster was inevitable”, meaning “sooner or later the disaster would happen (because they did not prepare)” with “the disaster was unavoidable”, meaning “even if they had prepared, the disaster would have happened”.

Often used with a negative connotation, but may be used with a positive or neutral sense of fate, as in “Given our preparations, our victory was inevitable.” in which case *unavoidable is not acceptable.

In the same manner, impreventable and inevitable have different nuances. The sense “the disease was inevitable” means “It was natural to suffer the disease”; the sense “the disease was impreventable” means “There were no preventive methods against the disease”.

Thus, "inevitable" indicates "unable to avoid due to natural or necessary matters", "unavoidable" indicates "unable to avoid due to incidental matters", impreventable indicates "unable to avoid due to the absence of preventive methods".

Synonyms

(impossible to avoid): inescapable, unavoidable, impreventable
(naturally impossible to avoid): natural, necessary
(always happening): certain, necessary

Antonyms

(impossible to avoid): evitable, escapable, avoidable, preventable
(always happening): impossible, incidental

Derived terms

Translations

impossible to avoid or prevent

Asturian: inevitable
Bengali: অনিবার্য (bn) ‎(ônibarjô)
Catalan: inevitable
Chinese:
Mandarin: 不可避免 (zh) ‎(bùkě bìmiǎn), 總會 (zh), 总会 (zh) ‎(zǒnghuì), 無可避免, 无可避免 ‎(wúkě bìmiǎn)
Czech: nevyhnutelný (cs) m
Dutch: onvermijdelijk (nl), onafwendbaar
Estonian: vältimatu (et)
Finnish: väistämätön, vääjäämätön (fi)
French: inévitable (fr)
Galician: inevitable (gl), inevitábel (gl)
Georgian: გარდაუვალი ‎(gardauvali), აუცილებელი ‎(aucilebeli)
German: unvermeidlich, unabwendbar
Greek: αναπόφευκτος (el) ‎(anapófefktos)
Hungarian: elkerülhetetlen (hu)

Italian: inevitabile (it)
Japanese: 不可避の ‎(fukahi no), 避けられない ‎(sakerarenai)
Korean: 피할 수 없는 ‎(pihal sue opsneun)
Occitan: inevitable
Old English: unafeohtendlic, unforbugendlic
Persian: حتمی (fa) ‎(hatmi), حتمی‌الوقوع ‎(hatmi-ol-voqu'), ناگزیر (fa) ‎(nâgozir)
Polish: nieunikniony (pl) m
Portuguese: inevitável (pt)
Romanian: inevitabil (ro) m, n, neocolibil m, n
Russian: неизбе́жный (ru) ‎(neizbéžnyj), немину́емый (ru) ‎(neminújemyj)
Slovak: neodvratný
Spanish: inevitable (es)
Swedish: oundviklig (sv), ofrånkomlig (sv)
Turkish: kaçınılmaz (tr)
Urdu: ناگزیر ، اٹل

predictable, or always happening

Dutch: voorspelbaar (nl)
Finnish: ennalta arvattava
French: inévitable (fr) m, f
German: zwangsläufig (de)
Italian: inevitabile (it)

Japanese: 必至の (ja) ‎(hisshi no), 必然の (ja) ‎(hitsuzen no), 当然の (ja) ‎(tōzen no), 確実な (ja) ‎(kakujitsu na)
Romanian: inevitabil (ro) m, n
Russian: неизбе́жный (ru) ‎(neizbéžnyj), немину́емый (ru) ‎(neminújemyj)

Noun

inevitable ‎(plural inevitables)

Something that is predictable, necessary, or cannot be avoided.
- 2009 August 22, Murray Whyte, “Seeking successors to the Queen West gallery scene”, in Toronto Star:
  In the migratory patterns of the city's art scenes, there are two inevitables: First, that neighbourhoods where art makes its home become instantly more attractive; and second, because of it, art won't be at home for long.