# Is "irregardless" a real word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271 "2007-01-01T04:35:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/1 "2007-01-01T04:35:21Z")
Long story short, pretty much what the title says. Obligatory wiki-links, IUC: [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/irregardless](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/irregardless) [Irregardless - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregardless) ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/2 "2007-01-01T04:37:59Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/3 "2007-01-01T04:53:28Z")
It is not a word and is best replaced with \*\*immaterial \*\* or \*\*regardless \*\* depending on context. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/4 "2007-01-01T05:18:39Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/5 "2007-01-01T05:26:04Z")
Well, sure it is. Many people use it; therefore, it’s a word. Now, is it a “standard” or accepted word? That’s a whole different debate (and I don’t believe a general question). My guess is that it’s going to eventually become like the flammable / inflammable pairing and that irregardless / regardless will become accepted words with the same meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/6 "2007-01-01T05:45:38Z")
Yes. Not in question. Those links as well as [Merriam-Webster](http://m-w.com/dictionary/IRREGARDLESS) all agree that it is non-standard, though. But that’s not what you were asking. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/7 "2007-01-01T05:50:43Z")
It might be a word but what’s is supposed to mean? The meaning of ‘regardless’ is clear, as is the meaning of ‘irrespective’. ‘Irregardless’ is a double negative all on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/8 "2007-01-01T07:09:37Z")
Can we ditch this concept of a word being “real” or not? A word is, citing Merriam-Webster’s very own definition, (the first to be listed): Main Entry: word Pronunciation: 'w&rd Function: noun 1 a : something that is said I just said “irregardless” quietly to myself. Ergo, it’s a word. Now as others have pointed out, a better description may be that it’s a _non-standard_ word, as its etymology may well stem from misunderstanding use of the words “regardless” and “irrespective” (as you point out yourself with your links). For this reason, I would personally never use it. So to summarize - word? Yes. Tacky hick’s word? Yeah, I think so. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/9 "2007-01-01T07:32:57Z")
Of course it’s a word. It’s a silly word, in my opinion, but nevertheless a word that many people use and whose meaning is perfectly clear. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/10 "2007-01-01T13:39:29Z")
[QUOTE=carterba] …and whose meaning is perfectly clear. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s arguable. As was pointed out by **jabiru** , it’s a double negative and therefore it’s a very messy, ugly, and potentially ambiguous word. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/11 "2007-01-01T13:55:21Z")
and besides, “disirregardless” is much betterer and has improved truthiness. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/12 "2007-01-01T14:33:45Z")
People use it. It’s a word. Any more questions? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/13 "2007-01-01T14:56:42Z")
It’s a substandard colloquial usage, generally used as an intensifier for “regardless.” It’s considered a solecism in writing or careful speech. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/14 "2007-01-01T14:59:02Z")
When the Erie Canal was a big deal, there was a dedicated security outfit. They were disbanded long ago, and we are all Erie Guardless. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/15 "2007-01-01T15:00:13Z")
Quote from The American Heritage Dictionary: ir·re·gard·less adv. Non-Standard. Regardless. [Perhaps from ir(respective) + regardless.] ———————————————————— USAGE NOTE: The label Non-Standard does only approximate justice to the status of irregardless. More precisely, it is a form that many people mistakenly believe to be a correct usage in formal style but that in fact has no legitimate antecedents in either standard or nonstandard varieties. (The word was likely coined from a blend of irrespective and regardless.) Perhaps this is why critics have sometimes insisted that there is “no such word” as irregardless, a charge they would not think of leveling at a bona fide nonstandard word such as ain’t, which has an ancient genealogy. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/16 "2007-01-01T17:11:41Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Well, that’s arguable. As was pointed out by **jabiru** , it’s a double negative and therefore it’s a very messy, ugly, and potentially ambiguous word. [/QUOTE] Only if you think too hard about it. Language doesn’t follow rules of logic. If you somebody said it to you in conversation, it would be very clear that they meant “regardless”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/17 "2007-01-01T17:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] People use it. It’s a word. [/QUOTE] A very cromulent reply. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/18 "2007-01-01T18:38:18Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] I just said “irregardless” quietly to myself. Ergo, it’s a word. [/QUOTE] Oh, come on. I just said “alabamiskoo,” therefore it’s a word. “Irregardless” is not something anyone who wishes to be taken seriously should say. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/19 "2007-01-01T18:54:33Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] Oh, come on. I just said “alabamiskoo,” therefore it’s a word. “Irregardless” is not something anyone who wishes to be taken seriously should say. [/QUOTE] True, but that wasn’t the question. It’s a word, an it’s a synonym for “regardless.” It is not a nonce word such as “alabaiskoo,” but one used by many people with an agreed upon meaning. Currently it’s nonstandard, and it may remain that way, or it may become standard like “bus” or “mob.” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271/20 "2007-01-01T18:57:48Z")
Don’t misunderestimate it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-irregardless-a-real-word/386271.md?page=2)