impossibility

Syllables: im·pos·si·bil·i·tyUK/ɪmˌpɒsɪˈbɪliti//ɪmˌpɑsɪˈbɪliti/

impossibility noun: something that is impossible.

Noun

impossibility (countable and uncountable, plural impossibilities)

Something that is impossible.
- Meeting the deadline is an impossibility; there is no way we can be ready in time.
- God commands not impossibilities; and all the Ecclesiastical glue, that Liturgy, or Laymen can compound, is not able to soder up two such incongruous natures into the one flesh of a true beseeming Mariage.1645 March 14 (Gregorian calendar), John Milton, Tetrachordon: Expositions upon the Foure Chief Places in Scripture, which Treat of Mariage, or Nullities in Mariage. […], London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page...
(uncountable) The quality of being impossible.
- After long reasonyng, there wer certain appoynted, to declare the impossibilite of this demaunde to the Cardinal,1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, Henry VIII, year 15
- [L]et the mutinous winds / Strike the proud cedars ’gainst the fiery sun; / Murdering impossibility, to make / What cannot be, slight work.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(obsolete) The state of being unable to do something.
- Here by this petition whan we say, Leade vs not into temptation, we learne to know our own impossibilitie and infirmitie, namely that we bee not able of our owne selues to with∣stand this great and mightye enemye the deuill.1562, Hugh Latimer, 27 Sermons Preached by […] Hugh Latimer, London: John Day, Sermon 7 p. 45
- […] out of their own torment, they [the damned] see the felicitie of the saints; togither with their impossibility of attayning it.1607, Joseph Hall, Holy Observations, Lib. 1, London: Samuel Macham, 59, p. 85
Synonyms:

inability, incapability, helplessness

impossibility meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

impossibility in Hindi

an impossibility: अनहोनी anhonī

impossibility in Tamil

இயலாமை

impossibility in Marathi

अशक्यता

impossibility in Urdu

ناممکنیت

More languagesFewer languages

impossibility in Bengali: অসম্ভাব্যতা, অসাধ্য সাধন
impossibility in Telugu: అసాధ్యత
impossibility in Malayalam: അസാധ്യത
impossibility in Kannada: ಅಸದಳ, ಅಸಾಧ್ಯ, ಅಶಕ್ಯತೆ, ಅಸಾಧ್ಯತೆ
impossibility in Punjabi: ਅਸੰਭਵਤਾ
impossibility in Gujarati: અશક્યતા
impossibility in Odia: ଅସମ୍ଭବତା
impossibility in Nepali: असम्भवता
impossibility in Arabic: مُسْتَحِيل mustaḥīl

Examples of impossibility in a sentence

My dear Tom, you are going to undertake an Impossibility.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter VII, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XIV...
Breathing had become difficult, swallowing acutely painful, and sleep an impossibility—for whenever he dropped off, the patient would choke and wake up frantically struggling for air.1962, Aldous Huxley, chapter 8, in Island, New York: Bantam, published 1963, page 123:
What insane impossibility has Hughes just committed himself to?2019 December 9, qntm, “Wild Light”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, pages 191–192:
[H]e threw himself upon her, and his back being now towards me, I could only take his being ingulph'd for granted, by the directions he mov'd in, and the impossibility of missing so staring a mark […]1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker]...

All 27 example sentences with impossibility

Synonyms of impossibility

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of impossibility

Forms of impossibility

plural	impossibilities

Plural of impossibility: impossibilities

Origin of impossibility

From Middle French impossibilité, from Latin impossibilitās. By surface analysis, im- + possibility and impossible + -ity.

Words formed from impossibility

Abel's impossibility theorem

Words that rhyme with impossibility

36 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about impossibility

What does impossibility mean?: Impossibility means something that is impossible.
What is impossibility in Hindi?: Impossibility in Hindi is अनहोनी (anhonī). See Impossibility meaning in Hindi.
How do you use impossibility in a sentence?: My dear Tom, you are going to undertake an Impossibility.
What part of speech is impossibility?: Impossibility is a noun.
How do you pronounce impossibility?: Impossibility is pronounced /ɪmˌpɒsɪˈbɪliti/ (UK).
What is the plural of impossibility?: The plural of impossibility is impossibilities.

Words near impossibility in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: impossibility (page history and authors); अनहोनी (Hindi) (page history and authors); impossibility (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); impossibility (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); impossibility (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Impossibility (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); impossibility (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); impossibility (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); impossibility (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); impossibility (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); impossibility (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); impossibility (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); impossibility (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-impossibility.wav.

Cite this entry: “impossibility.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/impossibility. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.