English Online Dictionary. What means impossible? What does impossible mean?
English
Alternative forms
- inpossible (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English impossible, equivalent to im- + possible.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ɪmˈpɒs.ɪ.bəl/, /ɪmˈpɒs.ə.bəl/
- (US) IPA(key): /ɪmˈpɑ.sə.bl̩/
- Hyphenation: im‧pos‧si‧ble
Adjective
impossible (not comparable)
- Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
- 13 March 1962, John F. Kennedy, speech at the White House
- Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
- (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.
- (mathematics, dated) imaginary
Synonyms
- unfeasible
- nonpossible (nonstandard)
- unhappenable (rare)
- unpossible (rare)
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “not able to be done or happen”): possible, inevitable
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
impossible (plural impossibles)
- An impossibility.
- A skateboard trick consisting of a backflip performed in midair.
Translations
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited or borrowed from Latin impossibilis. By surface analysis, im- + possible.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [im.puˈsib.blə]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [im.poˈsi.ble]
Adjective
impossible m or f (masculine and feminine plural impossibles)
- impossible
- Antonym: possible
Derived terms
- impossiblement
Related terms
- impossibilitat
Further reading
- “impossible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “impossible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
- “impossible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “impossible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Etymology
From im- + possible.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛ̃.pɔ.sibl/
Adjective
impossible (plural impossibles)
- impossible
- Il est impossible que Dieu mente. ― It is impossible for God to lie.
- unbearable
- Synonym: insupportable
- Cet enfant est impossible ! ― This kid is unbearable!
Derived terms
Noun
impossible m (uncountable)
- the impossible
- promettre l’impossible ― to promise the earth
- demander l'impossible ― to ask the impossible
- faire l’impossible ― to do the impossible
- à l’impossible nul n’est tenu ― nobody can be expected to achieve the impossible
Further reading
- “impossible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English
Alternative forms
- inpossible, impossybel
Etymology
From Old French impossible, from Latin impossibilis, from in- (“not”) + possibilis (“possible”).
Adjective
impossible
- Impossible: not able to be done.
- Incapable (of doing something)
Noun
impossible (plural impossibles)
- An act which cannot be accomplished.
- A logical impossibility: a thing which cannot exist, or is a logical self-contradiction
Middle French
Adjective
impossible m or f (plural impossibles)
- impossible