impossible
adjective
im·pos·si·ble
(ˌ)im-ˈpä-sə-bəl 
1
a
: incapable of being or of occurring
b
: felt to be incapable of being done, attained, or fulfilled : insuperably difficult
an impossible deadline
2
a
: extremely undesirable : unacceptable
b
: extremely awkward or difficult to deal with
the actor was impossible on the set
impossibleness
noun
Synonyms
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
What is most noticeable, listening to their collaborations, is that the essential Khruangbin-ness of their sound is impossible to dispel — even their more famous collaborators get gathered into the band’s sonic world.
—
Ryan Bradley MacLeod Andrews Emma Kehlbeck Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
On Tuesday, the Lakers’ task was, well, almost pretty much impossible.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
The impulse is so ingrained that when patients have their corpus callosum severed, making communication between the two hemispheres of the brain impossible, the left hemisphere simply invents plausible explanations to account for inputs to the right side of the brain that the left side hasn’t seen.
—Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
But that has been almost impossible with Trump Media because it’s been prohibitively expensive.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
When a country starts subsidizing a major industry, turning back abruptly becomes almost impossible.
—Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024
Being an innovator is seeing what everyone believes is impossible.
—Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
In 1935, at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, the young astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar presented his work, which suggested, instead, that what was impossible was essentially that black holes didn’t exist.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2024
Although Bayern director of sport Max Eberl claimed in an interview earlier this week that Bayern would never give up on the title, the ten-point gap to Leverkusen always made the 12th title in a row close to a mission impossible.
—Manuel Veth, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Ryan Bradley MacLeod Andrews Emma Kehlbeck Quinton Kamara, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
On Tuesday, the Lakers’ task was, well, almost pretty much impossible.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
The impulse is so ingrained that when patients have their corpus callosum severed, making communication between the two hemispheres of the brain impossible, the left hemisphere simply invents plausible explanations to account for inputs to the right side of the brain that the left side hasn’t seen.
—Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
But that has been almost impossible with Trump Media because it’s been prohibitively expensive.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
When a country starts subsidizing a major industry, turning back abruptly becomes almost impossible.
—Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024
Being an innovator is seeing what everyone believes is impossible.
—Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
In 1935, at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, the young astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar presented his work, which suggested, instead, that what was impossible was essentially that black holes didn’t exist.
—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2024
Although Bayern director of sport Max Eberl claimed in an interview earlier this week that Bayern would never give up on the title, the ten-point gap to Leverkusen always made the 12th title in a row close to a mission impossible.
—Manuel Veth, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impossible.' 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 impossible
Cite this Entry
“Impossible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impossible. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
impossible
adjective
im·pos·si·ble
(ˈ)im-ˈpäs-ə-bəl
1
a
: incapable of being or of occurring
b
: very difficult : hopeless
an impossible situation
2
: very bad or unpleasant
an impossible person
impossibly
adverb
-blē
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