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Glite Dictionary
irretrievability

irretrievability

1 9.9
A situation where you cannot get something back, like deleted files or lost memories
  • noun
  • /ˌɪrɪˈtrivəˌbɪlɪti/
translation icon : irretrievabilidad
  • When a document is deleted from the system, its irretrievability can be frustrating for the users.

Examples

  • The irretrievability of lost data can lead to significant setbacks for businesses.

  • The irretrievability of such details is not simply regrettable; in this instance, it becomes a productive absence that forces a conceptualization of female patronage that does not privilege our knowledge of the precise circumstances that brought works of art into being.

    Academic text (2008)

  • OJS offers the ability to customize the platform to provide services and information that will improve access and irretrievability.

    Academic text (2015)

  • He would feel certain that the irretrievability of the letter was somehow an indication that the posting of the thing was the first act in a great and unspeakable disaster.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • He realized the irretrievability of the situation meant he had to let go of his past mistakes.

Synonyms

irreversibility
vsirretrievability
1 8.4

Cannot be changed back to how it was

focuses on being impossible to get back rather than on a permanent process
irredeemability
vsirretrievability
9.9

The state of being unable to be fixed or made right

focuses on being impossible to get back
irreparability
vsirretrievability
8.7

A thing that cannot be fixed or made like new

is about being impossible to get back rather than about physical change

Antonyms

retrievability
  • Specialized
7.0

How easy it is to find and access information when needed

How Recoverable

irretrievability
1 9.9

Surface Forms

irretrievability singular
irretrievabilities plural

Morphology

irretrievability = irretrievable (transparent) = ir + retrieve + able + ity

The noun is a regular '-ity' nominalization of 'irretrievable', which itself transparently combines 'retrieve' with the negative prefix 'ir-' and the adjectival suffix '-able'.

Etymology

Irretrievability breaks into in- 'not', retrieve 'get back', and -ability 'the quality of'. Think of a retriever dog that fetches a ball: if the ball is lost forever and cannot be fetched, it has irretrievability, so the word means the quality of being impossible to get back.