Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[perspectives]

Hi,

I'd like to know this usage--A is irresistible to B.

Does it mean
1. A cannot resist B or
2. B cannot resist A?

I've seen different examples on the internet to either mean 1 and 2. That's why I'm so confused. Could you please tell me the usage of 'irresistible to'.

examples:
1. There are many people who are irresistible to charm of the luxury watches and wish to possess one. (from http://www.articlesvision.com/articles/15739/1/Cheap-Luxury-Watches/Page1.html)

2. Gennie wants to prove to that Grant is irresistible to her charms. from http://www.allreaders.com/topics/info_34958.asp

3. There were points in my life where I felt oddly irresistible to women. I�m not in that state now and that makes me sad.
(from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350653/Jack-Nicholson-I-used-feel-irresistible-women-Not-more.html)

Thank you very much!!

[redset]

It means 2. B cannot resist A.

Irresistible is an adjective - it means the noun being modified cannot be resisted, so if A is irresistible to B then A cannot be resisted by B.

Your first two examples are using the word incorrectly - the first link is badly written in general, the second has a few errors too (the author meant to write "Gennie wants to prove to Grant that he cannot resist her charms" or something like that). The last link is a from a newspaper and they're much more strict about correct language usage, so that example is actually correct (not something you can generally say about the content of a Daily Mail article!).