improbability
Americannoun
-
the quality or condition of being improbable; unlikelihood.
-
something improbable or unlikely.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of improbability
First recorded in 1590–1600; improbable + -ity
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.
See Examples For:
One posits the existence of billions of universes, arguing that happenstance alone accounts for the improbability of our inhabiting this one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
"The inherent improbability that such a large number of journalists would do that should be borne in mind," White argued.
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
I wish I could tell you I respected the improbability of the windfall by immediately retreating to my suite.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2025
Such improbability is what propelled the Club 27 myth to prominence, and subsequent deaths — especially Kurt Cobain’s passing — continue to fuel its mystique, Dunivin said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2024
The planes formed behind him and a single vision passed through the mind of Bull Meecham, magnificent in its improbability, in its impossibility, but one that he entertained deliciously for a full minute.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
One of the strategies adopted by Mr. Coben and company is to keep the improbabilities coming.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
The improbabilities that formed Said’s life make any summary oversimplified.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023
For the armchair judge, it is not so much a matter of who you believe — there being improbabilities and weirdnesses in both the prosecution and defense — as who you don’t.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2022
I will not attempt to prosecute a play deliberately written as a fantasia for its factual improbabilities.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2021
If I could believe in myself, why not give other improbabilities the benefit of the doubt?
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
