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indelible

UK/ɪnˈdɛləbl/US/ɪnˈdɛləbl/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,156 of 15,258neutral

Indelible means impossible to rub out or to forget. Indelible ink, an indelible impression, indelible memories.

Indelible ink is a real product used to mark voters in elections, where a stain lasting days prevents anybody voting twice. The figurative use is the commoner, and an indelible impression is one nothing since has covered over.

Definitions of indelible

  1. 1adjectiveindelibleImpossible to rub out or to forget.C1

    “The war left an indelible mark on everyone who lived through it.”

indelible is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin indelebilis means not able to be destroyed, from in- plus delere, to erase.

  1. Latin

    indēlēbilis — indestructible

  2. English, today

    indelible

From Latin indēlēbilis (“indestructible”). by surface analysis, in- + delible.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

indelible in the wild

  • A permanent marker or indelible marker is a type of marker pen that is used to create permanent or semi-permanent writing on an object.

    Permanent marker

  • The United Farm Workers (UFW) union, co-founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, has left an indelible mark on Chicano cinema.

    List of Chicano films

  • A copying pencil, also an indelible pencil or chemical pencil, is a pencil whose lead contains a dye.

    Copying pencil

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.