Indestructible
What it means
Impossible or extremely difficult to destroy.
Reach for it when using emphatic praise for survival while recognizing that literal invulnerability is rare
The children treated the old steel toolbox as indestructible.
Words to choose between 6
| playful | |
|---|---|
| everyday |
|
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
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playful
bombproof
Fits when informal exaggeration should stress extreme robustness
Careful Bombproof is martial, often untested, and unsuitable for a safety claim.
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everyday
Fits when equipment tolerates rough use in the field
Careful Rugged is vague unless the relevant shocks, weather, or loads are named.
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everyday
Fits when resistance to breaking is the direct claim
Careful Unbreakable ignores wear, burning, corrosion, and other ways an object can fail.
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professional
Fits when long service under stated conditions is demonstrable
Careful Durable is bounded and far more credible than indestructible.
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formal
Fits when defenses prevent entry or defeat
Careful Impregnable suits fortifications and arguments better than ordinary materials.
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literary
Fits when decay or forgetting seems unable to erase the subject
Careful Imperishable is elevated and fits memories or works better than tools.
Opposites 3
- fragile
- destructible
- perishable
Common phrases 3
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virtually indestructible
The thick training blocks proved virtually indestructible in ordinary classroom use.
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seem indestructible
The century-old hinges may seem indestructible but still require inspection.
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indestructible spirit
The biography celebrates an indestructible spirit rather than an unbroken record of success.
Usage notes
Keep in mind
Indestructible is normally rhetorical. Engineering or safety copy should replace it with a tested limit and named conditions.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated