insoluble
Americanadjective
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incapable of being dissolved.
insoluble salts.
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incapable of being solved or explained.
an insoluble problem.
adjective
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incapable of being dissolved; incapable of forming a solution, esp in water
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incapable of being solved
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insoluble
1350–1400; < Latin insolūbilis; replacing Middle English insolible < Middle French insoluble < L. See in- 3, soluble
Explanation
Let a bottle of salad dressing stand on the table for a few hours and you will notice that it has separated into layers. That's because oil is insoluble or is not capable of being dissolved. Insoluble comes from the Latin insolubilis meaning "that cannot be loosened." When a substance is insoluble, it cannot be dissolved or loosened in water. Similarly, a situation that is insoluble has no hope of being solved. When a marriage is beyond repair and cannot be fixed, it is insoluble.
Vocabulary lists containing insoluble
Animal Farm
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"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Stories of Ourselves
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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.
After the ghostly reflection of Frank Silva, a prop man, was inadvertently caught on camera, Lynch was inspired and cast Silva as the embodiment of insoluble evil.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Purple, savoy and green cabbage are also high in insoluble fiber, which Beitchman says is “the broom of the digestive system,” allowing waste to pass through more easily.
From Salon • Feb. 21, 2026
But if a problem is insoluble, it’s not a problem anymore; it’s just the way things are.
From Salon • Dec. 31, 2024
In mice, the ketone ester treatment resulted in clearance rather than pathological aggregation of insoluble proteins.
From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2024
Susan Calvin burst into body-racking gusts of wild laughter, “not dead—merely insane. I confronted him with the insoluble dilemma, and he broke down. You can scrap him now—because he’ll never speak again.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
