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inevitably

UK/ɪˈnɛvɪtəbli/US/ɪˈnɛvɪtəbli/
adverbB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,510 of 15,258neutral

Inevitably means in a way nobody could possibly prevent. It was always going to end like this.

The word does two jobs. Genuinely, it marks something as unavoidable, as in the costs inevitably rose. In storytelling it is often a wry aside, since inevitably, it started to rain admits that this is exactly what you would expect. That second use is very common in British speech. The adjective inevitable is the one you meet in the phrase the inevitable happened, and the noun inevitability is used mainly in serious writing.

Definitions of inevitably

  1. 1adverbinevitablyIn a way that cannot be prevented or avoided.B2+

    “Delays inevitably followed the change of plan.”

Also accepted in games: unavoidably

Where it comes from

  1. Latin

    inēvītābilis — unavoidable

  2. Middle French

    inevitable

  3. English

    inevitable

  4. English, today

    inevitably

Built from

  • ēvītābilis · Latin — avoidable
  • evito · Latin — to avoid
  • ē- · Latin — out
  • vito · Latin — to shun

From inevitable + -ly. inevitable comes from Middle French inevitable, from Latin inēvītābilis (“unavoidable”), from in- + ēvītābilis (“avoidable”), from evito (“to avoid”), from ē- (“out”) + vito (“to shun”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sharper Adjectives, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 21 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

inevitably in the wild

  • The simplest calculations can be performed by hand, but inevitably computers are required to perform molecular modelling of any reasonably sized system.

    Molecular modelling

  • Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat.

    Minority leader

  • Fish and other river creatures are inevitably killed and the river bottom is scarred.

    Ice blasting

  • Ultimately, these stories explore the danger of life (which inevitably ends in death) and the power of telling one's own story.

    Good Bones

  • The mythical situation also developed a proverbial use in which seeking to choose between equally dangerous extremes is seen as leading inevitably to disaster.

    Between Scylla and Charybdis

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.

Related words

the vito family

inevitableinevitably

inevitably — used about once every 2,648 pages · #7,510 · point at the bar for the others