impasse
Americannoun
-
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
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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100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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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.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 3% to $111 per barrel Tuesday as peace talks have hit an impasse.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
After contract talks hit an impasse in February, Nichols reached out to Arias and Myart-Cruz to share research and strategy.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026
Words like “incompetent” can feel good in the heat of the moment, but they rarely help to resolve an impasse such as this.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
After more than five weeks of working without pay due to a funding impasse, most TSA employees received two, full retroactive paychecks on Monday, according to union officials and a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
How the incoming president would have resolved this impasse if Jefferson had agreed to resume the collaboration is impossible to know.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
