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immovable

UK/ɪˈmuːvəb(ə)l/
adjectiveC22 meaningsVery rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Immovable means impossible to shift. An object bolted down, or an opinion.

The physical sense is plain enough. The figurative sense is where the word does most of its work, since somebody immovable on a point will not be persuaded by anything. There is a famous paradox about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, which is a genuine logical puzzle rather than a physical one. Law has immovable property, meaning land and buildings, as against movable goods.

Definitions of immovable

  1. 1adjectiveimmovableImpossible to move from a position.C2

    “The wardrobe proved completely immovable.”

  2. 2adjectiverefusingRefusing to change an opinion or decision.C2

    “He was immovable on the question of price.”

Where it comes from

  1. Middle English

    immevable

  2. English, today

    immovable

From Middle English immevable. From Middle English immevable, immoveable. Equivalent to im- + movable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 27 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word