impracticable

[ im-prak-ti-kuh-buhl ]

See synonyms for: impracticable impracticability on Thesaurus.com

adjective

not practicable; incapable of being put into practice with the available means: an impracticable plan.
unsuitable for practical use or purposes, as a device or material.

(of ground, places, etc.) impassable.
(of persons) hard to deal with because of stubbornness, stupidity, etc.

Origin of impracticable

First recorded in 1645–55; im-² + practicable

Other words from impracticable

im·prac·ti·ca·bil·i·ty, im·prac·ti·ca·ble·ness, noun
im·prac·ti·ca·bly, adverb

Words that may be confused with impracticable

impossible, impracticable , impractical, improbable

Words Nearby impracticable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use impracticable in a sentence

So part of the reason ice cream was so coveted is that, like vanilla, it was scarce and impracticable.
How Ice Cream Became the Ultimate American Comfort Food | Matt Siegel | August 27, 2021 | Eater
I looked over the terrace; it was far too high to leap from; escape, if there was danger, was impracticable.
Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor
It has usually been considered impracticable to combine any powers of compulsion with a Poor Law system.
English Poor Law Policy | Sidney Webb
Then he conclusively proves the first impracticable and the second inexpedient.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
He was crotchetty and impracticable, a man of rash judgment and hasty action-as brave and as tenacious as a bulldog.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. | E. Farr and E. H. Nolan

Suffice it to say, the bordeaux was very respectable; but the beefsteak impracticable, and the poulette questionable.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 67, Number 414, April, 1850 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for impracticable

impracticable

/ (ɪmˈpræktɪkəbəl) /

adjective

incapable of being put into practice or accomplished; not feasible
unsuitable for a desired use; unfit

an archaic word for intractable

Derived forms of impracticable

impracticability or impracticableness, noun
impracticably, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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