irretrievable

adj

"irretrievable" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“irretrievable” is uncommon English (frequency #95,004 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#95,004
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not retrievable; irrecoverable; irreparable

Corpus desk

Index EN-irretrievable · irretrievable · English

irretrievable · rank #95,004 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #95,004
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH ionisation

Nearest frequency peer: ionisation (-3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “irretrievable”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “irretrievable” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for irretrievable
PropertyValue
Headwordirretrievable
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters13
Frequency rank#95,004
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “irretrievable” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).irretrievablefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “ionisation” (#95,001), “Islamisation” (#95,008), “interpolate” (#94,997). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “irretrievable” is #95,004. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

irretrievable is uncommon English at frequency #95,004 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Not retrievable; irrecoverable; irreparable".

No misspelling variants are generated for irretrievable in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From ir- + retrievable. The correct English form is irretrievable, spelled I-R-R-E-T-R-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not retrievable; irrecoverable; irreparable

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how irretrievable appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. an irretrievable loss
  2. But, having hung him, you cannot unhang him. With all your liability to err, you dare to take a step, which, if wrong at all, is infinitely so, because irretrievable.

Etymology

From ir- + retrievable.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "irretrievable"?
"irretrievable" is spelled I-R-R-E-T-R-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.
What does "irretrievable" mean?
As an adjective, "irretrievable" means: Not retrievable; irrecoverable; irreparable
What is the origin of the word "irretrievable"?
From ir- + retrievable. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "irretrievable", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list