Inaccessible

/ˌɪnækˈsɛsəbəl/

adjectivemedium📊CommonQuality
2 meanings1 idiom/phrase3 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

Not able to be reached or entered; impossible or difficult to approach or obtain.

/ˌɪnækˈsɛsəbəl/

adjectiveneutralmedium
Quality

Not able to be reached or entered.

The remote island was inaccessible by boat due to the strong currents.

💡 Simply: Think of a playground that's closed off by a big fence. The swings and slides are inaccessible because you can't get to them.

👶 For kids: Something is inaccessible if you can't get to it or go inside it.

More Examples

2

Information about the company's finances remained inaccessible to the public.

3

The archives held many inaccessible historical documents.

4

The top shelf, full of my favorite snacks, was completely inaccessible to my short arms.

How It's Used

Geography

"The mountain peak was inaccessible due to severe weather conditions."

Technology

"The company's website became temporarily inaccessible because of a server outage."

2

Difficult to understand; incomprehensible.

/ˌɪnækˈsɛsəbəl/

adjectivenegativeAdvanced
Quality

Difficult to understand.

The professor’s lectures were often filled with inaccessible terminology.

💡 Simply: It's like when someone uses big, confusing words that are hard to understand. The ideas are inaccessible because they're not explained in a clear way.

👶 For kids: If something is inaccessible, it's hard to understand.

More Examples

2

His poetry was considered to be deliberately inaccessible.

3

The complex scientific data was inaccessible to the non-specialist.

4

The manual was so technical that the instructions seemed inaccessible.

How It's Used

Philosophy

"The philosopher's writing was considered inaccessible to most readers due to its complex language."

Education

"The lecture was full of inaccessible jargon that confused the students."

Tip:Like a code that you can't crack, something inaccessible mentally is hard to grasp.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Idioms & expressions

inaccessible to

Not able to be reached or used by someone or something.

"The information was inaccessible to the public."

From Middle French *inaccessible*, from Latin *inaccessibilis*, from *in-* (not) + *accessibilis* (accessible).

The term has been used since the 16th century to describe physical locations and gradually expanded to include abstract concepts like information or ideas in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Memory tip

Imagine a locked vault. If you don't have the key, the valuables inside are inaccessible.

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"not (in-) + accessible"

inaccessible togeographically inaccessibletechnically inaccessibleinaccessible informationinaccessible data

Common misspellings

inaccesibleinaccessable

Usage

30%Spoken
70%Written