Yes. It may not be a word that you like, or a word that you would use in a term paper, but irregardless certainly is a word. It has been in use for well over 200 years, employed by a large number of people across a wide geographic range and with a consistent meaning. That is why we, and well-nigh every other dictionary of modern English, define this word. Remember that a definition is not an endorsement of a word’s use.
Does irregardless mean the same thing as regardless?
Yes. We define irregardless as "regardless." Many people find irregardless to be a nonsensical word, as the ir- prefix usually functions to indicate negation; however, in this case it appears to function as an intensifier. Similar ir- words, while rare, do exist in English, including irremediless ("remediless"), irresistless ("resistless") and irrelentlessly ("relentlessly").
Is irregardless slang?
We label irregardless as “nonstandard” rather than “slang.” When a word is nonstandard it means it is “not conforming in pronunciation, grammatical construction, idiom, or word choice to the usage generally characteristic of educated native speakers of a language.” Irregardless is a long way from winning general acceptance as a standard English word. For that reason, it is best to use regardless instead.
Adverb
the weather looked bad, but they were resolved to go on with their picnic regardless
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
The Apple Pencil Pro, second-gen Apple Pencil, and USB-C Apple Pencil at the least should work on all of Apple's current lineup, regardless if certain functions are not available.—Julian Chokkattu, WIRED, 8 May 2024 The factional dissenters There’s another group of candidates whose demands do mostly align with the pre-existing two party system, but who break away regardless: the factional dissenters.—Nate Cohn, New York Times, 4 May 2024 But the briefcase is too wide to satisfy the carry-on requirements at most airlines, regardless.—Brandon Widder, The Verge, 3 May 2024 While feelings of rejection did not differ between the three breakup strategies – the end of a relationship hurts regardless – the results showed that ghosting led to stronger feelings of exclusion than being rejected outright.—Danielle Sukenik, Discover Magazine, 3 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for regardless
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'regardless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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