What does irreplaceable mean?
Word: Irreplaceable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Irreplaceable means too special or rare to be swapped for anything else if it is lost or damaged.
How do you spell irreplaceable?
Syllables: ir - re - place - a - ble
Tricky part: Pupils drop the e before able and write irreplacable. It stays here to keep the c soft, so that the word is said with an s sound.
Watch out for: irreplacable, irreplaceble
Memory tip: Picture the e as a guard standing beside the soft c: send it away and the c turns hard.
Irreplaceable in a sentence
Example 1: Grandfather's old photo album is irreplaceable to our family.
Example 2: A good librarian is irreplaceable at a busy school.
Example 3: Ancient forests are irreplaceable homes for many birds.
Fun Fact
UNESCO calls the world's cultural and natural heritage irreplaceable. India's Kaziranga National Park is one of the places on its World Heritage List.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
irr_pl_ceable
a) i, a
b) a, a
c) e, e
d) e, a
Show answer
d) e, a. The vowels after the double r and the l are the e of red and the a of face.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
irreplacceable
a) l
b) r
c) c
d) p
Show answer
c) c. A single c gives the s sound in the middle.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
rceeipllbraae
a) irreversible
b) irresponsible
c) irreplaceable
d) unbelievable
Show answer
c) irreplaceable. The jumble has a p and two a's, which only one of these words can use.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) irresistable
b) irregullar
c) irreplaceable
d) irelevant
Show answer
c) irreplaceable. Irresistible ends in ible, irrelevant has a double r, and irregular has one l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why might a family call a great-grandmother's handwritten recipe book irreplaceable?
a) it is easy to write again
b) it is printed every year
c) it is sold in many shops
d) it exists nowhere else
Show answer
d) it exists nowhere else
2. Which of these would a museum be least likely to call irreplaceable?
a) a thousand-year-old manuscript
b) an ancient bronze mirror
c) a one-of-a-kind painting
d) a box of paper clips
Show answer
d) a box of paper clips
