Indestructible
adj.resilient, capableeveryday
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.
Choose between these
6- playful
bombproof
informal exaggeration should stress extreme robustness
not when Bombproof is martial, often untested, and unsuitable for a safety claim.
- everyday
equipment tolerates rough use in the field
not when Rugged is vague unless the relevant shocks, weather, or loads are named.
- everyday
resistance to breaking is the direct claim
not when Unbreakable ignores wear, burning, corrosion, and other ways an object can fail.
- professional
long service under stated conditions is demonstrable
not when Durable is bounded and far more credible than indestructible.
- formal
defenses prevent entry or defeat
not when Impregnable suits fortifications and arguments better than ordinary materials.
- literary
decay or forgetting seems unable to erase the subject
not when Imperishable is elevated and fits memories or works better than tools.
Said against
3- fragile
- destructible
- perishable
It naturally appears in
3- virtually indestructible
The thick training blocks proved virtually indestructible in ordinary classroom use.
- seem indestructible
The century-old hinges may seem indestructible but still require inspection.
- indestructible spirit
The biography celebrates an indestructible spirit rather than an unbroken record of success.
Where this comes from
Indestructible is normally rhetorical. Engineering or safety copy should replace it with a tested limit and named conditions.
- Merriam-Webster, adjective sense 1: incapable of being destroyed opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.