impossible

adjective

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im·pos·si·ble | \ (ˌ)im-ˈpä-sə-bəl

Definition of impossible

1a : incapable of being or of occurring

b : felt to be incapable of being done, attained, or fulfilled : insuperably difficult an impossible deadline

2a : extremely undesirable : unacceptable

b : extremely awkward or difficult to deal with the actor was impossible on the set

Other Words from impossible Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about impossible

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Examples of impossible in a Sentence

It's impossible to predict the future. The heavy rain made it impossible to see the road. It's physically impossible for a child to lift that much at once. It's virtually impossible to book a flight just before the holiday. These math problems are impossible! You refuse to help and then criticize me for not doing it right? You're impossible! My boss is just an impossible woman.

Recent Examples on the Web Ranking all the seasons is sort of an impossible undertaking, since the dynamics and cast are always shifting. — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, "Every Season of Grey’s Anatomy, Ranked," 24 Apr. 2020 Calculating an accurate daily tally of fatalities in this pandemic is almost impossible because of delays in reporting deaths and deaths of people not in the care of medical staff. — Jason Douglas, WSJ, "Daily Coronavirus Death Counts Lowball Fatalities but Are Critical for Scientists," 21 Apr. 2020 In most rich countries and almost all poor ones, cells are overcrowded, people come and go frequently, and effective social distancing is all but impossible. — The Economist, "Prisons worldwide risk becoming incubators of covid-19," 20 Apr. 2020 The creatures have a fondness of taking their leave of the Earth by rolling several thousand feet into places that are almost impossible to get in and out of, or by taking a swan dive that breaks off a horn, or a combination of the two. — David E. Petzal, Field & Stream, "Seven Big-Game Animals You Need to Drop Quickly," 9 Apr. 2020 Many of those parties have described that process as nearly impossible, since tours are usually set months in advance. — Ben Sisario, New York Times, "Live Nation Closes Gap in Refund Policy after Fan Complaints," 25 Apr. 2020 Finding a public restroom is almost impossible, especially downtown. — oregonlive, "Portland Commissioner Position 1 candidates explain their plan to help the city recover from the coronavirus pandemic," 24 Apr. 2020 But social distancing will be impossible for a lot of factories without huge, expensive renovations or massive reductions in the workforce on duty. — Dan Mclaughlin, National Review, "Reopening the Economy Will Require Lawsuit Protection," 22 Apr. 2020 So as for my father sharing his story with the producers, that part at least would have been impossible. — Robin Antalek, Longreads, "The Bigamist’s Daughter," 22 Apr. 2020

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