Unbindable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Impossible to secure or fasten by binding; not capable of being joined or tied together; unable to be held or confined by any means
2. Incapable of being restricted or connected through binding methods; resistant to being fastened or linked; not susceptible to physical or figurative tying or fastening
3. That which cannot be attached, held, or secured by binding; unable to undergo the process of fastening or linking; resistant to constraints involving ties or connections

Etymology: "Unbindable" is about as plain as English word-building gets: the prefix "un-", meaning "not," attached to "bindable," which itself is "bind" with the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." Put together, the word describes something that cannot be made to take a tie, fastening, or link. The root "bind" traces back to Old English "bindan," which carried the basic sense of tying or fastening something tight. The "-able" ending comes through Old French from Latin "-abilis," and English speakers have long attached it to verbs to name what can be done to a thing. The "un-" prefix is one of the oldest and most productive negating elements in English, going back to Old English, and it works freely with native words like this one. Because the word is a transparent compound of familiar parts, its meaning follows directly from them, and it is most often used in a literal sense, of materials or objects that resist being tied, bound, or joined.

Synonyms: unfastenable, unlooseable

Antonyms: bindable, fastenable, tieable, attachable