English

Adjective

irrepressible ‎(not generally comparable, comparative more irrepressible, superlative most irrepressible)

1. Not containable or controllable.
   • 1858, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. 15:

     "...here the two friends burst into a variety of giggles, and glanced from time to time, over the tops of their pocket-handkerchiefs, at Nicholas, who from a state of unmixed astonishment, gradually fell into one of irrepressible laughter...

2. (of a person) Especially high-spirited, outspoken, or insistent.
   • 1875, Wilkie Collins, The Law and the Lady, ch. 3:

     The irrepressible landlady gave the freest expression to her feelings.

   • 1900, Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, ch. 19:

     Schomberg, . . . an irrepressible retailer of all the scandalous gossip of the place, would, with both elbows on the table, impart an adorned version of the story to any guest.

   • 1901, Frank Norris, The Octopus, Book II, Conclusion:

     "The irrepressible Yank is knocking at the doors of their temples and he will want to sell 'em carpet-sweepers for their harems."

   • 1963 July 12, "People," Time:

     It was Paris' irrepressible High Fashion Doyenne Gabrielle ("Coco") Chanel, 80, so-soing this and high-hatting that, while Women's Wear Daily took notes.

   • 2012 July 24, Mel Watkins, "Sherman Hemsley, ‘Jeffersons’ Star, Is Dead at 74," New York Times (retrieved 16 June 2013):

     High-strung and irrepressible, George Jefferson quickly became one of America’s most popular television characters, a high-energy, combative black man who backed down to no one.

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