impossible

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /ɪmˈpɒsɪbəl/

Adjective

impossible

1. Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
   • 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, scene i:

     Antonio: What impossible matter will he make easy next?

     Sebastian: I think he will carry this island home in his pocket and give it his son for an apple.

     Antonio : And sowing the kernels of it in the sea bring forth more islands.

   • 1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

     Nothing is impossible, only impassible.

   • 13 March 1962, John F. Kennedy

     Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

   It is difficult, if not impossible, to memorize 20,000 consecutive numbers.
   Sarah thinks that nothing is impossible because things can always somehow happen.
2. (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.

   You never listen to a word I say – you're impossible!

3. (math, dated) imaginary

   impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers

Synonyms

• unpossible (rare)

Antonyms

• (not able to be done or happen) possible, inevitable

Translations

• French: impossible
• German: unmöglich
• Italian: impossibile
• Portuguese: impossível
• Russian: невозмо́жный
• Spanish: imposible

Translations

• French: insupportable, impossible
• German: unmöglich
• Italian: insopportabile, impossibile
• Portuguese: impossível, insuportável
• Russian: нереальный
• Spanish: insoportable

Translations

• French: impossible
• German: unmöglich
• Italian: impossibile
• Portuguese: impossível
• Russian: несбыточный
• Spanish: imposible

Noun

impossible (plural impossibles)

1. (obsolete) an impossibility
   • Late 14th century: “Madame,” quod he, “this were an impossible!” — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, Canterbury Tales

Translations

• Spanish: imposible

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