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impossible

adjective · noun US /ˌɪmˈpɑːsəbəl/

not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with

How often you will meet it

Rank 717 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 26,367 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.013% of every word in the library.

It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.

What it means

adjective

  1. not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with an impossible dreaman impossible situation
  2. totally unlikely also: inconceivable, out of the question, unimaginable
  3. (used of persons or their behavior) not acceptable or reasonable also: unacceptable impossible behavior

noun

  1. something that cannot be done his assignment verged on the impossible

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

impossible in real books

Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.

  • With such preparation, scarcely anything is impossible of attainment.

    The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1

  • In provincial cities, where everybody knows everybody else, such infamies are almost impossible.

    Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1

  • The thing seems impossible, and yet here we are, knowing that he did it.

    The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1

  • Woe to anyone who meets him in the garden, for it is impossible to escape from him.

    The Yellow Fairy Book: The Grateful Beasts · World Traditions (Celtic, Norse, Asian & Persian) · Chapter 1

  • How far this was a popular superstition, and to what length his learning went, it is impossible to say.

    Christian's Mistake · Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · Chapter 1

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