irregardless

English

WOTD – 8 December 2018

Etymology

Probably a blend of irrespective +‎ regardless;^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] the word can also be analysed as ir- +‎ regardless because it is possible that the prefix ir- was added to amplify the negative in regardless just as plain negatives often did at the time the word came into use (and still do in dialects).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɪɹɪˈɡɑːdlɪs/, /-ləs/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɪɹɪˈɡɑɹdlɪs/, /ˌɪɹəˈɡɑɹdləs/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Audio (UK): (file)
Hyphenation: ir‧re‧gard‧less

Adjective

irregardless (not comparable)

(nonstandard, proscribed, sometimes humorous) Irrespective, regardless. [from mid 19th century]
- 1875, “History”, in Grand Excursion to New Orleans: Reed Commandery, No. 6, Knights Templar, Stationed at Dayton, Ohio, on Board the Steamer Thomas Sherlock, Dayton, Oh.: Journal Steam Job Printing Establishment, →OCLC, page 51:
  Dear loved ones were unceremoniously hurried off home, irregardless to any previous arrangement, where they could sit down and recount the incidents of the trip to those who had been left behind, and where they were welcomed with the hearty greeting, "Home again."
- 1898, John Murray, “Part II. The Expedition from the Prince’s Landing to His Arrival at Derby.”, in Robert Fitzroy Bell, editor, Memorials of John Murray of Broughton: Sometime Secretary to Prince Charles Edward, 1740–1747: […] (Publications of the Scottish History Society; 27), Edinburgh: Printed at the University Press by T[homas] and A[rchibald] Constable for the Scottish History Society, →OCLC, page 160:
  Mr. M^cg. [Rob Roy MacGregor], far from being unsusceptable of flatterry,^[sic] irregardless of his own private interest, readily assented, and had a paper dictated to him to the following purpose: […]
- 1957 May, William P. McGivern, Alfred Hitchcock's Suspense Magazine, page 125, column 1:
  "Karsh said to get a picture - regardless or irregardless."
- 1995 January, Marco Svolacchia, Lunella Mereu, Annarita Puglielli, “Aspects of Discourse Configurationality in Somali”, in Katalin É. Kiss, editor, Discourse Configurational Languages (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax), New York, N.Y., Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 67:
  Clitic resumptive pronouns are a major feature in Somali syntax. Object resumptive pronouns corresponding to arguments must always occur (with 3rd pers. pronoun=Ø) irregardless of the presence and position of the full coindexed object NPs [noun phrases].
- 2003 December 22, John Clifford Wallace, Cynthia Holcomb Hall, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Circuit Judges, “Jonathan C. Shaw v. Cal Terhune, No. 02-16829, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], FindLaw, archived from the original on 6 August 2018:
  [T]he crime by definition allowed for the prosecution of both defendants irregardless of which defendant physically pulled the trigger.
- 2004, Tina Fey, Mean Girls, spoken by Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert):
  Irregardless, ex-boyfriends are just off-limits to friends. I mean that's just, like, the rules of feminism.
- 2005, Brett St Louis, “Racialization in the ‘Zone of Ambiguity’”, in Karim Murji, John Solomos, editors, Racialization: Studies in Theory and Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 38:
  Again following [Walter Garrison] Runciman, whether we agree with the biological race concept or not, its continued formal and informal salience confirms that competing racial understandings exist irregardless of whether they are valid truths or subjective speculations.

Usage notes

Although well attested, this word is widely regarded as nonstandard and incorrect. Its use is proscribed by many speakers, who consider it inappropriate in any formal setting.^[1]^[5]

Related terms

Translations

irrespective, regardless — see irrespective,‎ regardless

References

“irregardless”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “irregardless”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “irregardless”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
^ “irregardless”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “irregardless”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ See, for example, Michael Agnes, editor (2004), Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, Cleveland, Oh.: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN.