inconceivable
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inconceivable
First recorded in 1625–35; in- 3 + conceivable
Explanation
If something is inconceivable, it doesn’t seem possible, it’s hard to imagine, or it can’t be true. It might seem inconceivable that a society would choose to pay bankers more than teachers, but it’s true. When an idea or event is inconceivable, it's so outlandish, amazing, or horrible that it’s hard to believe. The horrible acts committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust are inconceivable on many levels, yet we know they occurred. Some things are inconceivable because they really wouldn't happen — for example, it's inconceivable that you would actually eat your hat.
Vocabulary lists containing inconceivable
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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List 3
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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.
That’s what happens when you have a fastball that reaches 100 miles per hour, a disappearing splitter and an array of breaking balls with inconceivable movement.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
Since teaming up, Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have won five of six competitions, a nearly inconceivable rise for such a new pair.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026
“Given the volatility around earnings, it’s not inconceivable that there is a period of relative strength for technology,” Hackett said.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 21, 2026
Alibaba ADRs remain priced around $150—up 0.5% in Monday’s premarket—which is just half of the late-2020 high, but a price level that may have been inconceivable in 2022, for instance, when it traded near $60.
From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025
This was the day they had worked for all year—three years for most of them—and it was inconceivable to them that they would not all be together in the boat in the last race.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
