implacable
adjective
-ˈplā-
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Implacable is rooted in Latin placare, meaning "to soothe," but its im- prefix is a variant of the negating prefix in- (as in inactive) and it signals that there’s nothing warm and fuzzy here. Someone or something described as implacable cannot be soothed, which usually means trouble: implacable is most often attached to words like foe, enemy, hatred and hostility. The opposite of implacable is, of course, placable; it means "easily soothed," but sadly isn’t called upon very often. Another placare word is likely more familiar. Placate means "to soothe or appease"; it’s frequently applied when an angry person is made to feel less so.
Examples of implacable in a Sentence
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2025
Kidman’s movie-star exterior is shiny, implacable, flawless, but inside is the soft stuff: intuitive, porous, sensitive.
—Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
After all, for more than 30 years, the two South Caucasus countries have been implacable adversaries.
—Thomas De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 22 Sep. 2025
The implacable formalism of much 1960s art strikes a different note beside such pieces.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for implacable
Cite this Entry
“Implacable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implacable. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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implacable
adjective
-ˈplā-kə-
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