1
a
: a predicament affording no obvious escape
an impossible impasse in which accepting a pardon meant admitting guilt
b
: deadlock
Negotiations are at an impasse.
2
: an impassable road or way : cul-de-sac
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
YouTube pulled Disney’s content from its pay TV platform after an October 31 midnight deadline saw negotiations at an impasse.
—Liam Reilly, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025
Surely, the thinking from informed sources went, the companies couldn’t extend the impasse and keep 10 million subscribers out in the cold in the middle of football season.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025
Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the weeks-long impasse, while some federal employees worked without pay and SNAP nutritional assistance recipients lost out on benefits.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 13 Nov. 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that some economic data that was due out during the impasse might never be released.
—Sean Conlon,pia Singh, CNBC, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impasse
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Liam Reilly, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025
Surely, the thinking from informed sources went, the companies couldn’t extend the impasse and keep 10 million subscribers out in the cold in the middle of football season.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025
Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the weeks-long impasse, while some federal employees worked without pay and SNAP nutritional assistance recipients lost out on benefits.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 13 Nov. 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that some economic data that was due out during the impasse might never be released.
—Sean Conlon,pia Singh, CNBC, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impasse
Cite this Entry
“Impasse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impasse. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
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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