Dictionary

impassable en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ɪmˈpɑː.sə.bəl/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in-bor. Middle English in- English im- Proto-Indo-European *peth₂-der. Proto-Italic *pattus Latin passus Proto-Italic *-āzi ▲ Latin -ereinflu. Latin -āre Vulgar Latin *passāre Old French passerbor. Middle English passen English pass Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English impassable From im- + pass + -able.

Meanings

1. (of a route, qualifier:terrain, usually) Incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated.
   • When the beach became impassable, as at high tide, they drove a sandy track behind the dunes. 1987 October, Charles E. Cobb, Jr., “North Carolina's Outer Banks”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 506:
   • [...] at Cowley Bridge Junction, east of Exeter, both lines were impassable from about 1.30 p.m.—the first flooding of the junction for 36 years—and by the evening the water had risen two-thirds of the way up the platforms at St. Davids as Exeter faced its worst flooding for 60 years. 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The railway and the Devon floods”, in Trains Illustrated, page 709:
   • At the same time, the encroachment of vegetation proceeds apace, and broom and brambles have already made portions of the line impassable, even on foot. 1949 November and December, “Notes and News: Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 408:
2. (of an obstacle) Incapable of being overcome or surmounted.
3. (of currency) Not usable as legal tender.

Forms

Deriveds

impassably · impassableness · impassability

Relateds

impassible

Synonyms

unpassable

Translations (26)

de unüberwindbar (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · pl nieprzejezdny (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · el αδιάβατος (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · hu áthatolhatatlan (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · hu áthághatatlan (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · grc ἀπόρευτος (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · nn uframkomeleg (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · grc ἀδιάβατος (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · nb ufremkommelig (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · ang weġlēas (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · de unüberwindlich (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · es infranqueable (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · az keçilməz (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · ota صارپ (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · nn uframkommeleg (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · grc ἄπορος (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · ca infranquejable (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · nb uframkommelig (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · hu járhatatlan (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · pl nieprzekraczalny (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · tr geçilmez (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · bg непроходим (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · is ófært (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · la invius (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · ro impracticabil (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated) · de unpassierbar (incapable of being passed over, crossed, or negotiated)