Irresistible

How to spell irresistible

12 letters · 5 syllables

47 of the 85 people asked to spell irresistible in Spelling Garden got it wrong the first time.

The most common mistake is irresistable. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

irresistable irresistible

What people typed instead

• irresistable43 people

How to pronounce irresistible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does irresistible mean?

1. adjectiveSo strong, attractive, or tempting that it cannot be resisted or opposed.

Irresistible in a sentence

• The bakery filled the street with an irresistible smell of fresh bread.

• The discount made the offer almost irresistible to weekend shoppers.

Where does irresistible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb resistere, meaning 'to stand back against' or 'to withstand', which was built from the prefix re- ('back' or 'against') and sistere ('to take a stand' or 'to stand firm'). To this the Latin negative prefix in- was added (assimilating to ir- before the r), producing the Late Latin irresistibilis, literally 'that which cannot be stood against'. English took the word in during the sixteenth century, partly through French, to describe forces or temptations too strong to oppose. The same sistere root sits inside relatives such as 'persist', 'insist', and 'consist', all sharing the idea of standing. The spelling trap lives in two places: the doubled r created by the assimilated prefix, and the Latin-derived -ible ending, which catches writers who instinctively reach for the more common -able.

How the word is built

• ir- (in-, not)
• re- (back, against)
• sist (from Latin sistere: to stand)
• -ible (able to be)

People who misspell irresistible also struggle with

Of the Spelling Garden players who got irresistible wrong the first time, this is how many also got each of these wrong.

• ordnance 90% of them got it wrong
• idiosyncrasy 76% of them got it wrong
• kraft 73% of them got it wrong
• connoisseur 65% of them got it wrong
• comptroller 64% of them got it wrong
• ecstasy 62% of them got it wrong