Indestructible

How to spell indestructible

14 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce indestructible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does indestructible mean?

1. adjectiveImpossible to destroy, break, or wear out.

Indestructible in a sentence

• The manufacturer claimed the phone case was virtually indestructible.

• After years of daily use the old kettle proved nearly indestructible.

Where does indestructible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built on the Latin verb destruere, meaning 'to pull down' or 'to demolish', which itself joins de- (a prefix marking reversal or undoing) with struere ('to build' or 'to pile up'). From struere English also inherited words such as 'structure', 'construct', and 'instruct', all sharing the idea of building. The Latin destruere passed into Old French as destruire and reached English as 'destroy' in the 1300s. The negative form, prefixing in- ('not') to the adjective 'destructible', appeared in English around the early 1700s to describe something that cannot be broken or destroyed. The hidden spelling trap is the buried 'struct' core and the -ible ending (not -able), both of which follow the Latin root faithfully.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• de- (down, reversing)
• struct (from Latin struere: to build)
• -ible (capable of being)