incurable

/ɪnˈkjʊrəbəl/

/ɪnˈkjʊrəbəl/

Other forms: incurables

Something incurable can't be fixed or healed. Incurable diseases can sometimes be lived with, but they can't be cured.

An incurable crush on a movie star means there's no getting over it, and being diagnosed with an incurable illness is always bad news, because no medicine can eliminate it. Your friends might call you an incurable optimist — this means you always see the glass as half-full, and there's no changing your cheerful nature. Incurable combines the prefix in-, "not," and curable, from the Latin cura, "care or concern," and also "means of healing."

Definitions of incurable

1. adjective

   incapable of being cured
   “an incurable disease”

   antonyms:

   curable

   curing or healing is possible
2. adjective

   unalterable in disposition or habits
   “an incurable optimist”

   synonyms:

   inalterable, unalterable

   not capable of being changed or altered
3. noun

   a person whose disease is incurable
   type of:

   diseased person, sick person, sufferer

   a person suffering from an illness