impracticable

[ im-prak-ti-kuh-buhl ]

adjective

1. not practicable; incapable of being put into practice with the available means:

   an impracticable plan.

2. unsuitable for practical use or purposes, as a device or material.
3. (of ground, places, etc.) impassable.
4. (of persons) hard to deal with because of stubbornness, stupidity, etc.

impracticable

/ ɪmˈpræktɪkəbəl /

adjective

1. incapable of being put into practice or accomplished; not feasible
2. unsuitable for a desired use; unfit
3. an archaic word for intractable

Derived Forms

• imˈpracticably, adverb
• imˌpracticaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• im·practi·ca·bili·ty im·practi·ca·ble·ness noun
• im·practi·ca·bly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of impracticable¹

First recorded in 1645–55; im- ² + practicable

Example Sentences

The minister for women and equalities Kemi Badenoch told the Times newspaper it was "impracticable for gender recognition regimes to vary in different parts of the country."

From BBC

Ms Badenoch said in the Times: "We are one United Kingdom and it is impracticable for gender recognition regimes to vary in different parts of the country. So, we will also legislate to establish that gender recognition is a reserved matter."

From BBC

It states that “any modification must be made in accordance with the donor’s probable intention” and only if the restriction has become “unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve, or wasteful.”

From New York Times

Although it may seem impracticable, a renegotiation will look more appealing in the decades ahead of us, more so, I suspect, in the face of genuine hardship.

From Salon

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a stickler for legible rules, sounded borderline aghast at this baggy, boundless standard; she lobbed a series of hypotheticals at Aguiñaga that showed he was pushing a meaningless and impracticable test.

From Slate