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impossible

[im-pos-uh-buh

Example Sentences

adjective

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

unable to be done, performed, effected, etc.: an impossible assignment.

incapable of being true, as a rumor.

not to be done, endured, etc., with any degree of reason or propriety: an impossible situation.

utterly impracticable: an impossible plan.

EXPAND

hopelessly unsuitable, difficult, or objectionable.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English < Latin impossibilis. See im-², possible

Related forms

im·pos·si·ble·ness, noun

im·pos·si·bly, adverb

Can be confused: impossible, impracticable, impractical, improbable.

Synonyms
6. unbearable, intolerable, unmanageable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To impossible

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Impossible is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

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Example Sentences

It's kind of impossible not to notice the weird emphasis on cleaning here.

They are lots of fun, but getting good results can often range from frustrating to impossible.

In practice, marshalling the efforts of laboratories across the world to do that would be an impossible task.

EXPAND

It's kind of impossible not to notice the weird emphasis on cleaning here.

They are lots of fun, but getting good results can often range from frustrating to impossible.

In practice, marshalling the efforts of laboratories across the world to do that would be an impossible task.

At that level of density, sinking in quicksand is impossible.

For time to end seems both impossible and inevitable.

Naturally, knowing the exact genus or species of dinosaur that created the tracks is impossible.

While chilacayote is easy to grow-put it in a sunny spot and give it plenty of space-finding seeds is nearly impossible.

Look around and it's impossible to miss the importance of social interactions to human society.

One should not confuse the improbable with the impossible.

Different budgeting practices among the states make it impossible to ensure that all figures are perfectly comparable.

Being heavily impregnated with oil, patching it up by welding a plate in place was impossible.

But environmentalists warn that global warming could make that mission impossible.

As a woman, it's impossible to ignore this kind of clear and dangerous language.

One stubborn misunderstanding about the brain is that it's impossible to grow new neurons.

Unfortunately, variables in recipes make it impossible to give across-the-board advice.

Sixty years ago, the athletic cognoscenti held that running a four-minute mile was physically impossible.

Mathematically speaking, the designers considered their course all but impossible.

OK, let's imagine the impossible of total supply-side control.

Calibrating the correct degree of uncertainty, sadly, is a fundamentally impossible task.

Teleportation was long considered impossible because it violates the so-called uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

It's impossible to pinpoint where our ability to navigate lies.

It's more or less impossible to define hysteria in a way that a physician today would find acceptable.

It is impossible to conceive of a locale more distant in mood from sparkling wine made by méthode champenoise.

Preselecting specific characteristics has so far proven impossible.

Sometimes a belief becomes so strong that suggesting it might be wrong is nearly impossible.

Building a useful model of systemic risk is not trivial, but its not impossible either.

Photographing fireworks can be challenging but it's not impossible.

It's a statement of how absolutely impossible it is to create superconduction in that sample.

Such a condition of persistent microgravity is nearly impossible to reproduce anywhere within the planet's atmosphere.

It seemed simply impossible that they would know how to grow and survive in such seemingly harsh conditions.

Blue roses have a mythic quality because they, until recently, were impossible to grow.

Isolate enough of us and you make meaningful change impossible.

The hard work of returning to true convergence will be impossible without voters' consent.

Most weather forecasters believe that accurate forecasting more than two weeks into the future will always be impossible.

Fingerprint readers offer greater security, because it is almost impossible to fake a human digit.

No engine in the great room makes a sound, and yet it's impossible not to hear a whole century's worth of roar and buzz and whine.

Small store has dozens of well-chosen wines, many impossible to find elsewhere.

He is only satisfied if a challenge is close to impossible.

It was a collection that overflowed in every impossible direction, piling up even in the bathroom and the kitchen.

It will now be virtually impossible ever to hold another free vote on hanging.

At a glance, it is nearly impossible to identify an individual penguin in a colony of several thousand.

The problem for physicists is that neutrinos are impossible to see and difficult to detect.

But some of these smell pretty bad themselves and are nearly impossible to get out of the bottle.

Scientists are finding ways to use unmanned aerial vehicles to gather new and previously impossible to collect data.

Their protection of entrenched interests makes change virtually impossible.

Large-scale number-crunching seemed an impossible task.

It's impossible to know yet who the slate's owner-or owners-may have been.

It will be impossible to sustain the unequal land distribution as the population increases.

But get those clinging, soft-bodied insects inside cauliflower curds and the wily creatures are nearly impossible to extract.

Out of this pool an extraordinary group of individuals will eventually emerge, although early prediction is nearly impossible.

Western scientists regard earthquakes as unpredictable, and pre-emptive evacuations such as this as therefore impossible.

It's impossible to say what physical features distinguished the species.

But it's impossible to be cynical in a place so lovely.

It will happen so fast that it will be impossible to keep up with its repair.

And in reading their requests the bathos of the ultimate penalty is impossible to ignore.

It is impossible to tell at the moment, but it certainly would have made mating an prickly prospect for these animals.

They have plenty of deposits, but finding somewhere useful to lend the money is well-nigh impossible.

Our society is set up to make it almost impossible to have people make healthy movement choices.

It would be almost impossible to index all the tributaries and offshoots of his stream of consciousness.

It is impossible to overlook the rapid growth that's taken place here in a generation.

There may have been even more, but unless a more complete inventory is found, it is impossible to know.

Some users have discovered that it is nearly impossible to remove themselves entirely.

After all, academe is surely the one area in which it is impossible to be overqualified.

Artists find mind-bending ways to bring impossible figures into three-dimensional reality.

It's almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers.

Madoff's trading results were impossible to achieve.

It is impossible to discuss this topic without referring to the elbow, and rules.

Such ships usually sank far out to sea where they are almost impossible to locate.

Artists find mind-bending ways to bring visual illusions called impossible figures into three-dimensional reality.

It must be almost impossible to commit a perfect murder if you are a celebrity.

The impossible green of the outfield, the nutmeg base paths, the shocking red of the home team's kneesocks.

Trying to get the military services to agree on how to airlift themselves around a battlefield has been all but impossible.

Union contracts make it next to impossible to reward excellent teachers or fire failing ones.

Artists find mind-bending ways to bring impossible figures.

When he states that something is impossible he is almost certainly wrong".

But it's impossible to control retroactively for all the ways that the lives of even separated twins are still related.

It denounces those hard, transparent plastic clamshell packages that hang in stores--and that are next to impossible to open.

Finally they can get to those tasks that are nearly impossible to accomplish during a busy academic year.

The overweight often find it impossible to avoid eating to excess, and.

So perfect, in fact, that it's impossible to tell individuals apart from their calls.

It is impossible to give an answer to this seemingly simple question because.

It seems almost impossible to argue that you shouldn't take on outside work as a consultant.

But file-sharing has so far proved impossible to stop.

Many might have even said that recovery was impossible.

Wise gardeners tell me that it's nearly impossible to stop the bolting once it's.

Killing cancer cells, while leaving normal tissue unscathed, is almost impossible.

As better technology enables more exacting experiments, phenomena that were once scoffed at as impossible become the new norm.

For many people, living a healthy, balanced life can seem impossible.

It will be impossible to determine this figure, however, until the.

Keeping a secret in the motoring world is nearly impossible.

Admitting that a personal or personnel dispute is your fault is difficult-and near impossible for some people.

The cost of all this is almost impossible to measure.

To launch into audacious rapprochements and impossible implants is second nature to him.

There's a cureit's impossible to be a lot of scientist's wich couldn't discover it.

Café curtains are a good solution where full-length curtains are either impossible or impractical, or where the upper part.

It's almost impossible to decide what is best about the packaging of this toy gun.

It does make it nearly impossible to leave the country.

Weak wheels tend to bow when you turn, making it impossible to hold a clean line.

Cloning a non-avian dinosaur appeared to be all but impossible.

However, until recently they have been impossible to turn into sculptural forms.

It is difficult to make a living doing this, but not impossible.

Everyone knows that it is impossible to concentrate with a splitting headache, but now neuroscientists can explain why.

Especially in my virtually no-chill climate where white cherries are impossible and even apricots are difficult to grow.

Or, even if either project gets off the ground, they're impossible to film.

It's impossible to know about the one two weeks ago, though.

Advancements in science, technology, and human evolution are making stability nearly impossible.

Equipment failures and impossible weather doomed my initial attempts to photograph these notoriously difficult subjects.

It can be described in many ways or it is impossible to describe.

Its impossible for anyone to say that there is life beyond our own planet.

Until the phenomenon is better understood, quantum technologies may be impossible.

McCluskey's idea was politically impossible and unnecessary.

But it is impossible to be sure without more information.

It can be almost impossible to get rid of the insects, which can hide in tiny nooks and go without food for up to a year.

Our bodies are wired to move, and damaged wiring is often impossible to repair.

We shouldn't punish scientists for not doing the impossible.

It's not that writing well about art is an impossible task.

The rules of the financial system make ratings impossible to ignore.

It's almost impossible to stop yourself from petting the moths on the page.

Moreover, it is impossible to avoid ingesting a certain amount of aluminum, which is found naturally in food and water".

Earlier than a decade ago, astronomers figured it would be impossible to see them against the brilliant glare of their stars.

His images are so precise that it's almost impossible to retouch any stray elements after the photo has been taken.

It is almost impossible to decline the obligation to do our part by accepting either type of committee service.

One obvious way is to group information by topic, but tagging it all comprehensively by hand is impossible.

Large tumors form on the faces and necks of the animals, making it impossible for them to eat.

Some are small exotic projects that at first blush seem nearly impossible.

Out of its geologic context it is impossible to compare it to the surrounding rock.

But the videogame's controls are impossible for him to use.

And for many cash-strapped programs, close monitoring is impossible.

Around the world young people are finding it all but impossible to get a job.

Its age is so vast that it's almost impossible to comprehend.

It is physically impossible for bubble curls to survive the stress of a flying cap.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

impossible (ɪmˈpɒsəb^əl)

—*adj*
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

im'possibleness

—n

im'possibly

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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"There have been others also just as true and devoted to the cause—I wish I could name every one—but with such women consecrating their lives, failure is impossible!"

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