impasse
Americannoun
-
impasses
plural
-
a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock.
- Synonyms:
- dead end, standoff, standstill, stalemate
-
a road or way that has no outlet; cul-de-sac.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of impasse
1850–55; < French, equivalent to im- im- 2 + -passe, stem of passer to pass
Explanation
When two huge semi trailers met face-to-face on a one-lane mountain road, the drivers jumped out of their cabs and exclaimed, "We're at an impasse! We can't move forward — we can only reverse and go back in the direction from which we came." If you investigate impasse a little more closely, you'll discover passer, the French word for to pass. The im- prefix is a negative, meaning that there's no way any passing is going to occur. It's impossible. An impasse is any situation in which the parties involved can't, or won't, move forward or make any sort of progress. Either they are literally stuck, like two big trucks trying to pass each other on a narrow road, or they are figuratively stuck, as in two politicians who are unable to reach an agreement on a new policy.
Vocabulary lists containing impasse
This Week in Words: January 20 - 26, 2018
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This Week in Words: March 16–22, 2019
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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.
See Examples For:
But when the Justice Department filed this civil rights lawsuit in March, it pointed to an extraordinary impasse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
—Oil prices extend the previous session’s gains as talks to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway hit an impasse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
That impasse has raised a haunting question: How can someone vanish without a trace, especially when the world is watching?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Talks over a deal were at an impasse until Real made a new offer on Wednesday, with Vinicius understood to be appreciative of the fresh terms.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
This problem—by which he meant not the interrupted kiss, but this whole ungodly impasse of city and citadel—would not be solved by slaying.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Jolie herself has met impasses like this her entire life, and it’s that air of empathy that makes “Couture” so disarmingly intimate.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
It took Spain four elections in as many years before a minority Sanchez government took over in early 2020 because coalition agreements could not be reached, with some impasses lasting as long as six months.
From Reuters ● Jul. 24, 2023
Partners try to resolve such impasses by digging in and working hard to convince the other of their own position, becoming further polarized.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2023
Issuing subpoenas and holding agency heads in contempt were rare, though impasses occurred in nearly every administration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
Why not plead ill-health, nervous breakdown, those doctor’s orders which have opened a way of escape from impasses of the mind as well as of the body?
From The Nebuly Coat by John Meade Falkner
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.
