FromMiddle Englishinpenetrabel,inpenetrabyle, fromMiddle Frenchimpenetrable or directly from its etymon,Latinimpenetrābilis.[1] Bysurface analysis,im- +penetrable.
- IPA(key): /ɪmˈpɛnətɹəbəl/,/ɪmˈpɛnɪtɹəbəl/
- Hyphenation:im‧pen‧e‧tra‧ble
impenetrable (notcomparable)
- Notpenetrable.
- Synonyms:impermeable,impregnable
- Antonyms:penetrable,permeable,pregnable
The fortress isimpenetrable, so it cannot be taken.
2012, John Branch, “Snow fall: The avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, inThe New York Times[1], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on2024-06-11:The avalanche spread and stopped, locking everything it carried into an icy cocoon. It was now a jagged, virtuallyimpenetrable pile of ice, longer than a football field and nearly as wide.
- Opaque;obscure; nottranslucent ortransparent.
1991,Varg Vikernes, “Dunkelheit”, performed byBurzum:When night falls, she cloaks the world inimpenetrable darkness.
- (figuratively)Incomprehensible;fathomless;inscrutable.
- Synonyms:unfathomable;see alsoThesaurus:incomprehensible
- Antonyms:fathomable;see alsoThesaurus:comprehensible
Business jargon makes this documentimpenetrable—I can’t understand it.
incomprehensible; inscrutable
impenetrable (pluralimpenetrables)
- A person not openly given tofriendship.(clarification of this definition is needed)
1837,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XXVI. Lady Marchmont to Sir Jasper Meredith.”, inEthel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London:Henry Colburn, […],→OCLC,page236:I should lose the reputation that I am gradually acquiring among ourimpenetrables here, were I to confess the excitement which I felt at the idea of entering his house—the house of that great general under whose command you made your first charge.
FromLatinimpenetrābilis.
impenetrable m orf (masculine and feminine pluralimpenetrables)
- impenetrable
FromLatinimpenetrābilis.
- IPA(key): /impeneˈtɾable/[ĩm.pe.neˈt̪ɾa.β̞le]
- Rhymes:-able
- Syllabification:im‧pe‧ne‧tra‧ble
impenetrable m orf (masculine and feminine pluralimpenetrables)
- impenetrable
1867, Cesare Cantù,Historia universal, 8, page118:
