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
- impracticality noun
- impractically adverb
- impracticalness noun
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.
The neighbors weren’t unsympathetic, nor were they impractical.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
In rare diseases and advanced cancer, such demands can be impractical, ethically dubious and less informative than carefully analyzed real-world evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
Yet real world adoption has lagged, largely because the hardware required to power these displays has been bulky and impractical.
From Science Daily • Mar. 4, 2026
Along with complaints about the building’s size, the Geffen Galleries’ heavy use of concrete had been criticized as an impractical choice for hanging art.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026
I helped Deborah pack too, and she also wanted her prettiest, most impractical outfits.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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.
