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improbability

[ im-prob-uh-bil-i-tee, im-prob- ]

/ ɪmˌprɒb əˈbɪl ɪ ti, ˌɪm prɒb- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR improbability

noun, plural im·prob·a·bil·i·ties for 2.

the quality or condition of being improbable; unlikelihood.

something improbable or unlikely.

QUIZZES

BECOME A PRO CHEF WITH THIS EXQUISITE CUISINE QUIZ!

Even if you can't be a professional chef, you can at least talk like one with this vocabulary quiz.

Question 1 of 9

You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?

To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.

To stew in a sauce for a long time.

To cook in water, just below boiling temperature.

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Origin of improbability

First recorded in 1590–1600; improbable + -ity

Words nearby improbability

imprimis, imprint, imprinter, imprinting, imprison, improbability, improbable, improbity, impromptu, improper, improper fraction

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for improbability

Besides, the Dalai Lama had already laughed about its improbability.
From Fashion Player to Photographer Monk|Nina Strochlic|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Improbability of this sort is the stuff that makes for reasonable doubt.
The DSK Rush to Judgment|Gerald L. Shargel|July 1, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Dick, indeed, would not again deny her request; but had he not reckoned on the improbability of her renewing it?
Sanctuary|Edith Wharton
Only its improbability is not so extremely great as to make it useless to consider the evidence in its favour.
The Truth of Christianity|William Harry Turton

The passage is evidently torn from its context and has been much abbreviated in order to accentuate its improbability.
In Northern Mists (Volume 1 of 2)|Fridtjof Nansen
One writer comments ambiguously, in guarded language, suggesting the improbability of the horrible practices alleged by Grant.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
If it be unavoidable, however, it should be outside the tragedy, like the improbability in the Oedipus of Sophocles.
The Poetics|Aristotle

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