interminable
13
7.5
- adjective
- /ɪnˈtɜrmɪnəbl/
- We sat through an interminable lecture that seemed to go on forever.
- interminable delays
- interminable debate
- interminable wars
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Watch on YouTubeI think people know now that you can't have interminable conversations.
- I think people know now that you can't have interminable conversations.
- What a boring, uninspiring, interminable waste of time.
- All right, we are almost at the end of this interminable process.
- Some interminable length could be months, could be the rest of your life.
- Hi everyone, it's Doctor Ramani and welcome to this seemingly interminable series, this glossary series of narcissistic terms.
- And the tragic sense of life is a sense for this interminable conflict between these, you might say, polarities of the human being.
- So the this is the man who's thought long and deeply about monopoly on those Boxing Day interminable contests.
Examples
-
After an interminable delay, the train finally arrived at the station.
-
She endured an interminable meeting that left everyone feeling exhausted.
-
All right, we are almost at the end of this interminable process.
-
The music stopped, and after an interminable wait, she returned to the phone.
Fiction book (2000) -
How can I escape my interminable task?
-
Oh, that first half was interminable.
-
For what seemed an interminable moment to Billy, Leo was as still as death.
Fiction book (1994) -
What we need in order to avoid interminable disputes of this sort is a second clause.
Academic text (1992) -
An interminable prologue in which all the key players are introduced.
-
One answer bleeds into the next, as interminable as the last day of school before summer.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
525
2.5
Happens all the time without stopping
357
4.3
Lasting forever without end
262
2.5
Continuing for a very long time and not stopping
145
3.1
Continuing for a very long time with no end
114
3.5
Lasting a long time and making people bored
87
5.8
Lasting for a very long time without stopping
80
3.9
Continuing for a longer time than usual
78
4.4
Boring and repetitive, making you feel mentally tired
72
4.5
Lasting forever without end
40
3.7
To stay the same or work well for a long time
30
6.6
Continuing for a long time, often longer than expected
29
6.3
Happening all the time without stopping
27
4.1
Lasting a long time without stopping
22
4.6
Lasting longer than needed and feeling tiring
18
5.3
Something that is boring because it has no variety
10
4.9
Not stopping or pausing for a long time
5
6.0
Continuing without stopping
2
7.0
Makes you feel tired or bored because it is repetitive
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
interminable = terminable (semi-transparent) = in + termin + able
The adjective is straightforwardly formed as 'not terminable', so its core meaning is directly recoverable from the base.
Etymology
Interminable comes from the parts in- 'not' and terminus 'end'. The same root is in terminal and terminate, so interminable literally means 'not ending', which is why we use it for something that seems to go on and on.