impalpable

[im-pal-puh-buh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR impalpable ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not palpable; incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch; intangible.

difficult for the mind to grasp readily or easily: impalpable distinctions.

(of powder) so fine that when rubbed between the fingers no grit is felt.

Origin of impalpable

First recorded in 1500–10; im-² + palpable

Related formsim·pal·pa·bil·i·ty, nounim·pal·pa·bly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for impalpable

airy, delicate, fine, imperceptible, incorporeal, indiscernible, indistinct, insensible, insubstantial, nebulous, shadowy, tenuous, thin, vague, disembodied, imponderable, inappreciable, imprecise, unapparent

Examples from the Web for impalpable

Contemporary Examples of impalpable

Only the originals have a true, if impalpable, connection to that man and that moment of making.
Ad Reinhardt, No Saint, Made Relics of Himself
Blake Gopnik
December 4, 2013

Historical Examples of impalpable

This impalpable missive dated from seventeen days previously.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
It was as though her face was covered by an impalpable grey mask.
Jan and Her Job
L. Allen Harker
He seemed to see Enid through some impalpable and yet impenetrable medium.
The Missionary
George Griffith
"Even now I don't believe in him," the impalpable legend ran.
The Market-Place
Harold Frederic
He waited for the sun to pierce this impalpable fog, but waited in vain.
Despair's Last Journey
David Christie Murray

British Dictionary definitions for impalpable

impalpable

adjective

imperceptible, esp to the touchimpalpable shadows

difficult to understand; abstruse

Derived Formsimpalpability, nounimpalpably, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impalpable

adj.

c.1500, from French impalpable, from Medieval Latin impalpabilis, from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + palpabilis (see palpable). Figurative use from 1774. Related: Impalpably; impalpability.