impassable
[im-pas-uh-buh l, -pah-suh-]
- not passable; not allowing passage over, through, along, etc.: Heavy snow made the roads impassable.
- unable to be surmounted: an impassable obstacle to further negotiations.
- (of currency) unable to be circulated: He tore the bill in half, making it impassable.
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Origin of impassable
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for impassable
Contemporary Examples
Unwisely, he took a shortcut and so missed the impassable Cabora Bassa cataracts blocking the river.
Like a quietly heroic astronaut-to-be from Wapakoneta, Ohio, now gone, they have similar dreams that “nothing is impassable.”
Our beach path was impassable, we found another way on the back road.
Many roads throughout Europe are impassable—Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are particularly stricken.
Historical Examples
Come, the hedges of Nature are not as impassable as the hedges of man.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
It was, to her, like an impassable rampart, which shut off her past.
The Fortune of the RougonsEmile Zola
In the same way too the Parthenius is impassable, which you will reach if you cross the Halys.
AnabasisXenophon
How impassable was the plain, had we failed to conquer their cavalry!
AnabasisXenophon
She looked to the right and left The forest walls were impassable.
The Hound From The NorthRidgwell Cullum
impassable
- (of terrain, roads, etc) not able to be travelled through or over
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for impassable
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper