WORD OF THE DAY
INDOMITABLE \ in-DAH-muh-tuh-bul \ adjective
Definition
1: incapable of being subdued
2: unconquerable
Examples
The memorial celebrates the indomitable spirit of the pioneers who ventured forth in search of a new life.
"The stones, removed as part of structural improvements to the bridge, speak to the indomitable nature of 19th-century workers, often immigrants, who somehow—with horses and pulleys— managed to move around that staggering weight."
"The stones, removed as part of structural improvements to the bridge, speak to the indomitable nature of 19th-century workers, often immigrants, who somehow—with horses and pulleys— managed to move around that staggering weight."
— Sean Kirst, Syracuse.com (New York), June 16, 2015
Did You Know?
The prefix in- means "not" in numerous English words (think of indecent, indecisive, inconvenient, and infallible). When in- teamed up with the Latin domitare ("to tame"), the result was a word meaning "unable to be tamed."
Indomitable was first used in English in the 1600s as a synonym of wild, but over time its sense of untamability turned from a problem to a virtue. By the 1800s, indomitable was being used for people whose courage and persistence helped them to succeed in difficult situations.
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