Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Tuesday July 26, 2005

indelible \in-DEL-uh-buhl\, adjective:

1. That cannot be removed, erased, or washed away.
2. Making marks that cannot easily be removed or erased.
3. Incapable of being forgotten; memorable.

It was part of his image, indelible as the ink stains under the breast pocket.
--Mark Childress, Gone for Good

In a sense, these years were like a blur of hunger, a time without roots or a sense of stability that made an indelible mark and colored his every move years later.
--Marcos Bretón and José Luis Villegas, Away Games

It had been an indelible performance, an astonishing display of spiritual determination; he had done nothing less than give a clinic in what set him apart from everyone else in his profession.
--David Halberstam, Playing for Keeps

Lore would have it that he lost only once before he drew an indelible lesson about gambling and life.
--Sally Denton and Roger Morris, The Money and the Power

Indelible is from Latin indelebilis, from in-, "not" + delebilis, "that can be obliterated or destroyed," from delere, "to blot out, to efface, to destroy."