Untouchable

How to spell untouchable

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce untouchable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does untouchable mean?

1. adjectiveNot able to be touched, reached, harmed, or successfully challenged.

Untouchable in a sentence

• The senior partner seemed untouchable no matter how many complaints landed on his desk.

• With that lead in the final round, the champion looked untouchable.

Where does untouchable come from?

Language of origin: French

The core of this word is 'touch', which English took from the Old French verb touchier, meaning to handle or to come into contact with, itself descended from the Vulgar Latin toccare, originally an imitative word suggesting the sound of a knock or tap. To this Romance root English fastened two of its most productive affixes: the native Germanic prefix un-, meaning simply 'not', and the suffix -able, which came through French from the Latin -abilis and carries the sense 'capable of being'. The assembled adjective therefore means literally 'not able to be touched', and it appears in English from around the early 1600s. Over time it gathered figurative force, describing people too powerful, important, or corrupt to be challenged or punished. In a separate and now offensive historical use, it named members of castes in India placed outside the traditional caste hierarchy; the word served as a direct English rendering of that social exclusion.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• touch (from Old French touchier: to handle, contact)
• -able (capable of being)