“Irregardless of the weather, we're going ahead with the event.”
Misused Entry 219 / 1011 60-second read
Irregardless (Not a Word)
Irregardless is not standard English. The correct word is regardless.
The comparisoni
“Regardless of the weather, we're going ahead with the event.”
More examplesii
01
Irregardless of budget, quality must not be compromised.
Regardless of budget, quality must not be compromised.
02
I'm going irregardless of what you say.
I'm going regardless of what you say.
03
Irregardless of the study's limitations, the findings are significant.
Regardless of the study's limitations, the findings are significant.
04
Irregardless, we will proceed as planned.
Regardless, we will proceed as planned.
05
Irregardless of the outcome, we gave it everything.
Regardless of the outcome, we gave it everything.
06
Irregardless of the risks, she accepted the challenge.
Irrespective of the risks, she accepted the challenge. (Also valid.)
The ruleiii
¶
Use REGARDLESS.
It sounds like it should work — 'ir-' is a real prefix and '-regardless' sounds complete. People hear it spoken and assume it's correct. Some dictionaries include it as 'nonstandard'.
Memory aidiv
Remember it like this
REGARD + LESS = already means 'without regard'. Adding IR- creates a double negative — 'ir-regardless' would mean 'with regard', which is the opposite of what you want. Just use REGARDLESS.