impractical

adjective

im·​prac·​ti·​cal (ˌ)im-ˈprak-ti-kəl 

: not practical: such as

a

: not wise to put into or keep in practice or effect

b

: incapable of dealing sensibly or prudently with practical matters

c

: impracticable

d

: idealistic

impracticality

(ˌ)im-ˌprak-ti-ˈka-lə-tē 

noun

impractically

(ˌ)im-ˈprak-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• useless
• unsuitable
• unusable

Examples of impractical in a Sentence

Little sports cars are impractical for large families.

He was a dreamy and impractical young man.

Recent Examples on the Web

By contrast, the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands have been allocated to Wi-Fi for a long time, are heavily used, and modifying existing devices to stop using parts of the bands would be impractical. —ArsTechnica, 30 June 2025

This sheer volume makes manual auditing impractical and reinforces the need for intelligent tools that can scale. —Prashant Kondle, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

The school board, backed by other parents, had argued that opt-out provisions were impractical. —Nina Totenberg, NPR, 27 June 2025

Electric vehicles were once considered impractical. —Charles Singh, USA Today, 17 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for impractical

• syntactical
• unpractical
• practical
• tactical

Kids Definition

impractical

adjective

im·​prac·​ti·​cal (ˈ)im-ˈprak-ti-kəl 

: not practical: as

a

: not wise to put into or keep in practice or effect

an impractical rule disliked by many

b

: incapable of dealing sensibly with practical matters

c

: impracticable

the new gadgets were complicated and impractical

impracticality

(ˌ)im-ˌprak-ti-ˈkal-ət-ē 

noun

impractically

(ˈ)im-ˈprak-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb