impracticable

American  

[im-prak-ti-kuh-buhl] / ɪmˈpræk tɪ kə bəl /

adjective

1. not practicable; incapable of being put into practice with the available means.

   an impracticable plan.

2. unsuitable for practical use or purposes, as a device or material.

3. (of ground, places, etc.) impassable.

4. (of persons) hard to deal with because of stubbornness, stupidity, etc.

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impracticable British  

/ ɪmˈpræktɪkəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being put into practice or accomplished; not feasible

2. unsuitable for a desired use; unfit

3. an archaic word for intractable

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Other Word Forms

• impracticability
  noun
• impracticableness
  noun
• impracticably
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of impracticable

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

Example Sentences

It is hard to justify now, but back then it seemed impracticable to claw back our family’s time and tranquility.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

"It may be impracticable that our distinctively American experiment of individual freedom should go on."

From Salon • Oct. 29, 2023

FTX could owe money to more than 1 million people, making it "impracticable" to contact each, the papers said.

From Reuters • Jan. 6, 2023

What he wanted instead was to test it, something that at first seemed impracticable.

From Slate • Jan. 24, 2022

The logic was appealing, but unfortunately no one knew how much salt was in the sea or by how much it increased each year, which rendered the experiment impracticable.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson