adjective
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not practical or workable
an impractical solution
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not given to practical matters or gifted with practical skills
he is intelligent but too impractical for commercial work
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impractical
Explanation
Something impractical is difficult or impossible to achieve. It might sound like a great idea, but it's not going to happen. It's just not practical. Impractical ideas make no sense or just can’t be done. Heels so high you have a fish swimming in them are cool, but very impractical. Trying to drive from New York to California in four hours, which could never happen, is impractical. Something impractical is not likely to work. Practical ideas are feasible, but impractical ideas are based on wishful thinking. When someone tells you an idea is impractical, she’s saying, "Get real."
Vocabulary lists containing impractical
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Viewing Current Refugee Crisis Through an Anne Frank Lens
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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.
“We see a large and increasing tailwind for Vertex and Bedrock as huge models with massive context require large infrastructure capabilities that are impractical for single developers to acquire,” wrote Salmon.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
Katrina Suèr, who chairs the parent council at Mearns Academy in Aberdeenshire, said a four-day week would be impractical for parents.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
It feels impractical and slightly antiquated to dedicate more than a little bit of time, energy and money to each person you’re likely to never see again.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Although critics have blasted his plans as impractical, his messages were welcomed by the scores of people who showed up Saturday for a campaign meet and greet in Sherman Oaks.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
In a curious way, many people simultaneously exalt and dismiss mathematicians and scientists as impractical whizzes.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
