impenetrable
Americanadjective
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not penetrable; that cannot be penetrated, pierced, entered, etc.
-
inaccessible to ideas, influences, etc.
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incapable of being understood; inscrutable; unfathomable.
an impenetrable mystery.
- Synonyms:
- hidden, obscure, mysterious, incomprehensible
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Physics. possessing impenetrability.
adjective
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incapable of being pierced through or penetrated
an impenetrable forest
-
incapable of being understood; incomprehensible
impenetrable jargon
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incapable of being seen through
impenetrable gloom
-
not susceptible to ideas, influence, etc
impenetrable ignorance
-
physics (of a body) incapable of occupying the same space as another body
Other Word Forms
- impenetrability noun
- impenetrableness noun
- impenetrably adverb
Etymology
Origin of impenetrable
1425–75; late Middle English impenetrabel < Latin impenetrābilis. See im- 2, penetrable
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.
Though generally handsome and admirably executed, they often remain impenetrable, enigmatic objects—carriers saddled with ideas—rather than autonomous, living sculptures in which form and content inextricably fuse.
There were dozens of workshops with titles impenetrable to people without Ph.D.s.
To my mind, any entertainment involving global conflicts—boiled down to the action-oriented essentials, with muscled brothers in arms and impenetrable dialogue delivered largely in acronyms—is perfectly suited to these dark, divided times.
"It's not just Hawkins that feels cut off from the world. It's Stranger Things itself, a show now sealed in an airless, impenetrable bubble of stagnant characters and snarled lore."
From BBC
Contributing factors include the stress of living in a world that’s sensorially overwhelming or socially impenetrable.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
