1
a
: a predicament affording no obvious escape
b
: deadlock
2
: an impassable road or way : cul-de-sac
Synonyms
Examples of impasse in a Sentence
The players are poised to strike after Thursday's games because they believe, with good reason, that if no agreement is reached by the end of the post-season, the owners will declare an impasse …
—
Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits.
—Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone.
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.
Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits.
—Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone.
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.
Recent Examples on the Web
As a result of the impasse, all WBD channels went dark on Fubo as of April 30, adding to the friction between the parties.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2024
On the whole, local baseball ratings took a 6% haircut during the impasse.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 July 2024
One potential compromise in the Aiyuk impasse would be to give him a substantial raise in 2024 from the $14.14 fifth-year option figure and then agree to not give him the franchise tag in 2025.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 24 July 2024
Macron’s centrists are paralyzed by the country’s aversion to multiparty coalition-building, and the far-right opposition seems content to wait and watch as its own position is strengthened by the impasse.
—Drew Goins, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for impasse 
Dade Hayes, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2024
On the whole, local baseball ratings took a 6% haircut during the impasse.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 July 2024
One potential compromise in the Aiyuk impasse would be to give him a substantial raise in 2024 from the $14.14 fifth-year option figure and then agree to not give him the franchise tag in 2025.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 24 July 2024
Macron’s centrists are paralyzed by the country’s aversion to multiparty coalition-building, and the far-right opposition seems content to wait and watch as its own position is strengthened by the impasse.
—Drew Goins, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for impasse
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impasse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near impasse
Cite this Entry
“Impasse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impasse. Accessed 10 Sep. 2024.
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Legal Definition
impasse
noun
im·passe
ˈim-ˌpas, im-ˈpas 
: a point in especially labor negotiations at which reaching an agreement is impossible because neither party is willing to compromise or change position
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