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Synonyms

impossible

American  
[im-pos-uh-buhl] / ɪmˈpɒs ə bəl /

adjective

  1. not possible; unable to be, exist, happen, etc.

  2. unable to be done, performed, effected, etc..

    an impossible assignment.

  3. incapable of being true, as a rumor.

  4. not to be done, endured, etc., with any degree of reason or propriety.

    an impossible situation.

  5. utterly impracticable.

    an impossible plan.

  6. hopelessly unsuitable, difficult, or objectionable.

    Synonyms:
    unmanageable, intolerable, unbearable
impossible British  
/ ɪmˈpɒsəbəl /

adjective

  1. incapable of being done, undertaken, or experienced

  2. incapable of occurring or happening

  3. absurd or inconceivable; unreasonable

    it's impossible to think of him as a bishop

  4. informal intolerable; outrageous

    those children are impossible
"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

Other Word Forms

  • impossibleness noun
  • impossibly adverb

Etymology

Origin of impossible

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English word from Latin word impossibilis. See im- 2, possible

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.