Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Incapable of having existence or of occurring.
- adjective Not capable of being accomplished.
- adjective Unacceptable; intolerable.
- adjective Extremely difficult to deal with or tolerate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not possible; non-existent or false by necessity.
- In law, in a stricter sense, prevented only by the act of God or a public enemy.
- Excessively odd; not to have been imagined; such as would not have been thought possible: as, she is a most impossible person; he wears an impossible hat.
- noun An impossibility.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not possible; incapable of being done, of existing, etc.; unattainable in the nature of things, or by means at command; insuperably difficult under the circumstances; absurd or impracticable; not feasible.
- adjective (Math.) an imaginary quantity. See
Imaginary . - noun obsolete An impossibility.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Not
possible , not able to be done. - adjective colloquial, of a person Very difficult to deal with.
- noun an
impossibility - noun uncountable (with definite article) that which seems impossible
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun something that cannot be done
- adjective not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with
- adjective used of persons or their behavior
- adjective totally unlikely
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"As it was impossible they should know the words, thoughts and secret actions of all men, so it was _more impossible_ they should pass judgment on them according to these things."
How to Speak and Write Correctly Joseph Devlin
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"You can't make me believe _that_ -- it's rubbish -- like the mango tree and rope trick -- it's impossible, simply _impossible_ to make strong-minded, level-headed people do things against their will."
Leonie of the Jungle Joan Conquest
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"Don't you realize that it's impossible -- _impossible_ for us to remain here?"
The Hermit of Far End Margaret Pedler
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And after three years of secrecy and exasperation, I found that to complete it was impossible, impossible.
Certain First Principles Herbert George 1898
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God, have rendered that relief physically impossible; and yet he would abrogate the poor-laws by an act of the legislature, in order to take away that _impossible_ relief, which the laws of God deny, and which the laws of man _actually_ afford.
The Spirit of the Age Contemporary Portraits William Hazlitt 1804
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"It cannot be -- it is impossible, _impossible_ that you desert a beautiful and good wife who expects your child.
The Nest Builder Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale
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She held her gaze on Helen, never blinking, her expression impossible to read.
The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010
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She held her gaze on Helen, never blinking, her expression impossible to read.
The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010
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She held her gaze on Helen, never blinking, her expression impossible to read.
The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010
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And, yes, we use the term impossible in its most technical sense.
jrome commented on the word impossible
"Kenny: I still haven't called or seen or spoken to her... This is the cute girl who lives below me who made me cookies.
shewholaughsloud: kenny, maybe you would be more attractive if you worked more than 10 hours a week.
shewholaughsloud: oh wait, that's me
Kenny: nice
Kenny: She's cute and she made me cookies. What could go wrong, I thought?
shewholaughsloud: you thought that, and then she moved away
shewholaughsloud: maybe she's staying at her boyfriend's?
shewholaughsloud: maybe she's playing 'impossible to get'
shewholaughsloud: hahaha
shewholaughsloud: I just made that up
Kenny: nice!
shewholaughsloud: *proud*
Kenny: that's awesome
Kenny: they always play that."
- work related IM conversation
January 19, 2008
uselessness commented on the word impossible
Haha, where do you "work?" ;-)
January 21, 2008
bilby commented on the word impossible
"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said, 'One can't believe impossible things.' 'I dare say you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age I did it for half an hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"
- Lewis Carroll, 'Through the Looking Glass'.
February 5, 2009
qroqqa commented on the word impossible
"The word 'impossible' is not in my dictionary. In fact, everything between 'herring' and 'marmalade' appears to be missing."
—Dirk Gently
May 27, 2009
bilby commented on the word impossible
Ha! *remembers DG books fondly*
May 28, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word impossible
"In two words, im-possible."
Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974) - quoted in Alva Johnson: The Great Goldwyn
September 20, 2009
sherry28 commented on the word impossible
"As a mother , my job is to take care of what is possible and trust god with the impossible ." (Ruth Bell Graham) Chicken soup for the mother's soul :author's Jack Canfield , Mark Victor Hansen , Jennifer Read Hawthorne and Marci Shimoff . Page 84 .
September 30, 2010