intangible

[ in-tan-juh-buhl ]

/ ɪnˈtæn dʒə bəl /

adjective

not tangible; incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch, as incorporeal or immaterial things; impalpable.

not definite or clear to the mind: intangible arguments.

(of an asset) existing only in connection with something else, as the goodwill of a business.

noun

something intangible, especially an intangible asset: Intangibles are hard to value.

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Lincolnesque

without interest or significance; dull; insipid.

like or characteristic of Abraham Lincoln.

very high or tall; lofty.

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Words nearby intangible

intact dilatation and extraction, intaglio, intake, intake manifold, intake valve, intangible, intarsia, intarsist, integer, integer vitae, integers

Origin of intangible

From the Medieval Latin word intangibilis, dating back to 1630–40. See in-³, tangible

SYNONYMS FOR intangible

2 vague, elusive, fleeting.

OTHER WORDS FROM intangible

in·tan·gi·bil·i·ty, in·tan·gi·ble·ness, nounin·tan·gi·bly, adverb

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

Example sentences from the Web for intangibility

The skeptic is resolute in unmasking the fraud, but finds himself balked by intangibility.
Ghosts I Have Seen|Violet Tweedale
Can anything more ludicrous be imagined than this scampering piece of intangibility?
English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century.|Graham Everitt
Mr. James is at his best in exhibiting at once the intensity of her disgust and the intangibility of its provocation.
The Oxford Book of American Essays|Various
The utter silence of the morning was ethereal in its intangibility.
The Law of the North (Originally published as Empery)|Samuel Alexander White

The intangibility of the quarrel was what made it hardest to bear.
Much Ado About Peter|Jean Webster

British Dictionary definitions for intangibility

intangible

/ (ɪnˈtændʒɪbəl) /

adjective

incapable of being perceived by touch; impalpable

imprecise or unclear to the mindintangible ideas

(of property or a business asset) saleable though not possessing intrinsic productive value

noun

something that is intangible

Derived forms of intangible

intangibility or intangibleness, nounintangibly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012