impossibility
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being impossible
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something that is impossible
Etymology
Origin of impossibility
1350–1400; Middle English impossibilite < Late Latin impossibilitās. See im- 2, possibility
Explanation
An impossibility is something that can never, ever happen. Eating ice cream without getting a stomach ache afterward is an impossibility for people who are lactose intolerant. You might start to suspect the impossibility of finding an affordable apartment in New York once you start looking for one, or fear the impossibility that you'll ever pass your French class if you struggle with conjugating verbs. When something's impossible, it can't happen or exist, and an impossibility is impossible. Both words come from the Latin impossibilis, "not possible," from the roots im-, "not," and possibilis, "that can be done."
Vocabulary lists containing impossibility
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.
She could be wryly funny about the impossibility of escaping her past; in time, her exasperation with endlessly retelling the story of her childhood became an aspect of the story.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
For the Kim family, whose parents are immigrants to the United States, han is exacerbated by the pressure to assimilate alongside the impossibility of ever doing so.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026
Faced with such challenges and the occasional impossibility of deploying a team on the ground, "we adapt, we use technology—artificial intelligence, drones, satellite imagery" to investigate and document human rights violations, he added.
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
"I was just like, 'no, I won't use any screens, nothing'," she recalls, before quickly realising the practical impossibility of that goal.
From BBC • Dec. 25, 2025
They seemed to realize the impossibility of touching tar without being defiled.
From "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass
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.
