noun
beyond recovery; no hope of recovery
Used for situations, systems, or people that cannot be restored to a functional state. Often appears in formal or dramatic contexts.
事故で車は再起不能になった。
The car was damaged beyond recovery in the accident.
彼の信用は再起不能だ。
His credibility is beyond repair.
回復不能 focuses on the impossibility of healing or restoration, often used in medical or technical contexts, while 再起不能 emphasizes the loss of ability to rise again or function.
A yojijukugo composed of 再起 (rising again, comeback) and 不能 (impossible, incapable). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the phrase is conventionally associated with the meaning of being unable to recover.