unloosableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈluːsəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈlusəb(ə)l/ Incapable of being loosened or undone.Chiefly in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > condition of being fast bound or firmly fixed > [adjective] > of knots or bands > not loosened or becoming loose > unable to be loosened or undone
insoluble1382
unloosablec1425
inextricable1612
insolvable1652
dissolveless1706
unravellable1754
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 29 Bounden wiþ tuo knottis or þre vnlouseable.
1564 T. Becon Certayne Articles Christen Relig. f. xccviii in Wks. iii The simbole..of that vnloseable bargaine, whiche they call the Communion.
1565 W. Alley Πτωχομυσεῖον f. 121 Thys marriage..is made and knytte wyth a fast and a sure vnloosable bonde, betwene Christ and the Church.
a1634 R. Chapman Hallelu-jah (1635) 99 Were it as strong as the three fold cord of Salomon, as unlooseable as the Gordian knot.
1690 T. Beverley Brief View State of Mankind 21 All his Holy and Excellent State, as by one unlooseable Knot, if not Cut by Sin was kept strait and entire.
1735 T. Steward Fifteen Serm. Pract. Subj. iii. 67 Their wounds incurable, their Bonds unlooseable, and they are given up to Blindness of Mind.
1840 J. Dunlop Temperance Emigrants iii. vii. 72 Why should I tie the unloosable knot with such miscreant offscouring?
1869 T. Thomson Wks. Ettrick Shepherd (new ed.) 281/2 I'm the slave o' a solemn engagement; heard ye ever sic binding and unlooseable words?
1910 J. H. Jowett Transfigured Church xiv. 158 Here he was, languishing in despair, in the unlooseable grip of an alien people.
2000 Irish Times (Nexis) 27 May (Weekend section) 66 It's only days since Fine Gael tied itself in what looked like an unloosable knot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1425