impervious
Americanadjective
-
not permitting penetration or passage; impenetrable.
The coat is impervious to rain.
-
incapable of being injured or impaired.
impervious to wear and tear.
-
incapable of being influenced, persuaded, or affected.
impervious to reason; impervious to another's suffering.
- Synonyms:
- closed, invulnerable
adjective
-
not able to be penetrated, as by water, light, etc; impermeable
-
not able to be influenced (by) or not receptive (to)
impervious to argument
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impervious
From the Latin word impervius, dating back to 1640–50. See im- 2, pervious
Compare meaning
How does impervious compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An impervious surface is one that can't be penetrated. The word is often followed by "to," as in "His steely personality made him impervious to jokes about his awful haircut." Most of the sentences you'll run across using impervious will be followed by the word "to" and a noun. Things are often described as being impervious to physical assaults like heat, water, bullets, weather, and attack, but just as frequently to less tangible things, like reason, criticism, pain, and pressure. The word comes from Latin: in- + pervius, meaning "not letting things through." A common synonym is impermeable.
Vocabulary lists containing impervious
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Lord of the Flies
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Although she’s normally impervious to noise—even the most blood-curdling shriek from the many horror films we watch together can’t stir her—the sound of my voice emerging from her collar gave her pause.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
Recent raids may try to instill fear, but this special communal space feels impervious to such weak displays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
Oil giants now have a bigger share of crude production in their hands and are largely impervious to price swings, ensuring a steady output.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
He then pivoted to defend his economic strategy against fears of a market downturn, portraying the U.S. as impervious to pressure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
It only served to reason that the olive oil Tessie drizzled over everything had some mysterious power to stop the body’s clock, while the mind, impervious to cooking oils, kept going.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
