impermissible
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impermissible
First recorded in 1855–60; im- 2 + permissible
Explanation
Something impermissible isn't allowed. It's impermissible in every part of the U.S. to drive 100 miles an hour on the highway. Things that are permissible are legal, authorized, or welcome — you are permitted to do them. The opposite of permissible is impermissible, which adds the "opposite" prefix im- to permissible, from the Latin permittere, "let, allow, grant, or permit." It's impermissible to bully other kids at school, or against the rules, and it's impermissible to steal a car, or against the law.
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.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended without pay for six months for “his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker was suspended without pay for one year for “being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Any donation of more than £500 from an impermissible source must be declared to the Electoral Commission and returned within 30 days.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
District Court ruled that conditioning minors’ social media participation on parental consent is “an impermissible curtailment of their First Amendment rights.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Supreme Court announced its decision: Life imprisonment without parole sentences imposed on children convicted of non-homicide crimes is cruel and unusual punishment and constitutionally impermissible.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
