impossible
Americanadjective
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not possible; unable to be, exist, happen, etc.
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unable to be done, performed, effected, etc..
an impossible assignment.
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incapable of being true, as a rumor.
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not to be done, endured, etc., with any degree of reason or propriety.
an impossible situation.
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utterly impracticable.
an impossible plan.
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hopelessly unsuitable, difficult, or objectionable.
- Synonyms:
- unmanageable, intolerable, unbearable
adjective
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incapable of being done, undertaken, or experienced
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incapable of occurring or happening
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absurd or inconceivable; unreasonable
it's impossible to think of him as a bishop
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informal intolerable; outrageous
those children are impossible
Other Word Forms
- impossibleness noun
- impossibly adverb
Etymology
Origin of impossible
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English word from Latin word impossibilis. See im- 2, possible
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.
"At this stage in February we would usually have some early potatoes planted but this year that has been impossible because of the excessive rainfall," he said.
From BBC
Father didn’t like the attention: “It has caused a great deal of trouble and anxiety … it is impossible for us to attend to our daily occupations.”
From Literature
A master manipulator, he’s both a playwright and an actor, constructing scenes that might seem impossible to pull off, then delivering a virtuoso performance that leaves everyone flabbergasted by his success.
From Los Angeles Times
Graham, who attended, praised the deal as “almost impossible to dream of but now it is a reality.”
It means probable, but someone had to make it sound fancy and almost impossible to pronounce.
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.
