unrespirableadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈrɛsp(ᵻ)rəbl/, /(ˌ)ʌnrᵻˈspʌɪrəbl/, U.S. /ˌənˈrɛspərəb(ə)l/, /ˌənrəˈspaɪrəb(ə)l/ Not able or fit to be breathed; not able to sustain respiration; (in later use also, of particles, fibres, etc.) not capable of being inhaled into the lungs.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > pollution or defilement > environmental pollution > [adjective] > bad air
lither1393
muddya1628
unrespirable1720
unbreathable1846
1720 J. Quincy Of Different Causes Pestilential Dis. in tr. N. Hodges Loimologia 239 Whatsoever exhales and mixes with the ambient Air, must be of such a Nature, as to render it unrespirable.
1807 A. Aikin & C. R. Aikin Dict. Chem. & Mineral. II. 94/2 Foul or unrespirable air.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 991 The pit..is rendered unsafe..by the unrespirable gases.
1907 A. M. Kerr Diamond Key x. 316 They went down into something like a vacuum, a hot, thin, motionless atmosphere, peculiarly suffocating and unrespirable.
1967 Food & Cosmetics Toxicol. 5 714 PAH [= polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] too may arise from tyre destruction, though associated with particles of unrespirable size.
2007 M. Wilkenfield in W. N. Rom & S. B. Markowitz Environmental & Occup. Med. (ed. 4) xxxiv. 557/1 Nitrogen was first recognized as the unrespirable constituent of atmospheric air by Dr. Rutherford.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1720