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
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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 if a gap remains and an impasse ultimately is declared, the supervisors no longer would dictate the final offer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Unifor declared an impasse after Stellantis confirmed it is in advanced talks with Canadian armored carmaker Roshel about the sale of its auto-assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
But with Tehran and Washington now seemingly at an impasse, Isabel Schnabel and Joachim Nagel -- both members of the ECB's rate-setting governing council -- have signalled in recent days policymakers will resume hiking rates.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
We are currently at an impasse and want to help our granddaughter.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
But on the other side of the stone there was an impasse.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
Besides brokering negotiations for private employers, the mediators handle worker grievances; train joint labor-management committees; appoint arbitrators if a dispute cannot be resolved; and assist with negotiation impasses in the federal sector.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2025
We don’t just use these things as ephemeral amusement — art helps us make sense of our lives at their most critical impasses.
From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2025
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
We seem already to have found the city of rocks, the famous Cité du Diable; so labyrinthine these streets, alleys, and impasses of natural stone, so bewildering the chaos around us.
From The Roof of France by Matilda Betham-Edwards
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.
