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
Derived 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.
Gatto starred on Impractical Jokers - a hidden camera US comedy and reality show with improvisational elements - for nine seasons before leaving in 2021.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2025
And though shows steeped in awkwardness and idiocy — a lá "Nathan For You", "The Rehearsal," and "Impractical Jokers" — have always triggered my second-hand embarrassment, I still find the cringey, hijinx-stuffed premises funny.
From Salon • Jun. 25, 2023
James “Murr” Murray of the Impractical Jokers posted his own apology on Twitter.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 5, 2023
The four friends since high school, who originally formed a comedy troupe called The Tenderloins, eventually became known as the Impractical Jokers for their hidden camera television show started in 2011 for TruTV.
From Fox News • Jan. 2, 2022
Impractical, lacking in desire for money and financial judgment.
From Analyzing Character by Blackford, Katherine M. H.
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.
