insurmountable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insurmountable
First recorded in 1690–1700; in- 3 + surmountable ( def. )
Explanation
The adjective insurmountable describes some barrier that is incapable of being overcome. The Great Wall of China was meant to be an insurmountable deterrent to would-be invaders. Although the adjective insurmountable can be used to describe an actual physical barrier, it most often refers to a less tangible challenge. "The runner was disheartened because her competitor had an insurmountable lead in the race." "Because of insurmountable difficulties, the school's fall party had to be canceled. The water heater burst, raining gallons of water down on the gym, and flooding it. Since it was not a swimming party, the school wasn't able to clean up the mess in time to host the party."
Vocabulary lists containing insurmountable
Power Suffix: -able
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The Awakening
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Be More Chill
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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 danger isn’t insurmountable, but it’s just another barrier for the Federal Reserve as it tries to restore low U.S. inflation for the first time in nearly six years.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
“It has taken me a while to write that last sentence, knowing the insurmountable pain and loss I have caused.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
He said this created a "multi-generational financial and environmental liability", leaving our descendants with years of flood defence maintenance and the "insurmountable challenge of safe, millennia-long, highly radioactive nuclear waste isolation, amid a changing climate".
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Mexico's economy secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, confirmed the impasse but said there were no insurmountable differences to resolve.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
She didn’t think he had even experienced true depression, despite the grimness of his surroundings and what would seem to others to be insurmountable obstacles.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
