impervious

adjective im·per·vi·ous \ (ˌ)im-ˈpər-vē-əs \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of impervious

1 a : not allowing entrance or passage : impenetrable

a coat impervious to rain

b : not capable of being damaged or harmed

a carpet impervious to rough treatment

2 : not capable of being affected or disturbed

impervious to criticism

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imperviously

adverb

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imperviousness

noun

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Examples of impervious in a Sentence

He looked at her, impervious to her tears … —Jean Stafford, Children Are Bored on Sunday, (1945) 1953
… the trunk … is encased in so hard a bark, as to be almost impervious to a bullet … —Herman Melville, Omoo, 1847
… Berlin struck me, above all, as impervious to any political reactions whatever … —Stephen Spender, New York Times Magazine, 30 Oct.1977
the material for this coat is supposed to be impervious to rain
the rain forest is impervious to all but the most dedicated explorers

Recent Examples of impervious from the Web

While the Chinese economy is hardly impervious to American pressure, the much larger economic role of the state gives President Xi Jinping more levers with which to counteract the negative impact of U.S. tariffs.

— jonah shepp, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Doubles Down on a Trade War He Can’t Win," 6 Apr. 2018
Can Waymo really be so sure its own technology is impervious to tragic error?

— mark bergen, Bloomberg.com, "Waymo Isn’t Going to Slow Down Now," 2 Apr. 2018
Her mask impervious, Escobar crinkles silver sheets of cellophane while her voice skips into a symphony of magical realism: whispers, cicadas, howls, laughs, yelps, hurricanes and a piercing soprano.

— jeffrey fleishman, latimes.com, "Voices of the City: Experimental vocalist Carmina Escobar uses her voice to explore herself and others," 29 Mar. 2018
So long as global demand keeps growing, though, the avocado seems almost impervious to upheaval at home and abroad.

— brook larmer, New York Times, "How the Avocado Became the Fruit of Global Trade," 27 Mar. 2018
He's proven impervious to American and international sanctions.

— anna fifield, Houston Chronicle, "Can two NKorean ice skaters help bring about a diplomatic thaw?," 8 Jan. 2018
Daniels seems impervious to taunts, to financial penalties, to the risk inherent in challenging a corrupt president.

— sarah jones, The New Republic, "Stormy Daniels, Free Speech Warrior," 21 Mar. 2018
While his actions during Harvey demonstrate courage beyond his years, Virgil is not impervious to fear.

— nick powell, San Antonio Express-News, "Quiet teen who rescued 17 in Harvey flooding wins national Citizen Hero award," 18 Mar. 2018
Interior landscaping inside parking lots also can reduce storm water runoff by cutting down on the amount of impervious surface.

— joe guillen, Detroit Free Press, "Ilitches can maximize parking money thanks to favorable city ruling on LCA lot designs," 6 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'impervious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The English language is far from impervious, and, of course, a great many Latinate terms have entered it throughout its history. Impervious is one of the many that broke through in the 17th century. It comes from the Latin impervius, which adds the prefix im- to pervius, meaning "passable" or "penetrable." Pervius-which is also the source of the relatively uncommon English word pervious, meaning "accessible" or "permeable"-comes from per-, meaning "through," and via, meaning "way."