Inimitable means so distinctive that nobody can copy it. His inimitable style, the inimitable voice, quite inimitable.
It is high praise and slightly overused in introductions, where the inimitable so-and-so has become a formula. It claims uniqueness rather than quality — something can be inimitable and bad. Note imitate; and that the in- here means not.
1adjectiveinimitableSo distinctive that nobody can copy it.
“He told the story in his own inimitable style, with funny voices for every character.”
synonyms: unique, unmatched
inimitable is a quality of uniqueness.
Latin inimitabilis is in-, not, plus imitabilis, from imitari, to imitate. Image and imitate come from the same copying.
Latin
inimitabilis
Middle French
inimitable
English, today
inimitable
Borrowed from Middle French inimitable, from Latin inimitabilis, corresponding to in- + imitable.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire