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Webster 1913 Edition


Impenetrable

Im-pen′e-tra-ble

,
Adj.
[L.
impenetrabilis
; pref.
im-
not +
penetrabilis
penetrable: cf. F.
impénétrable
.]
1.
Incapable of being penetrated or pierced; not admitting the passage of other bodies; not to be entered; impervious;
as, an
impenetrable
shield
.
Highest woods
impenetrable

To star or sunlight.
Milton.
2.
(Physics)
Having the property of preventing any other substance from occupying the same space at the same time.
3.
Inaccessible, as to knowledge, reason, sympathy, etc.; unimpressible; not to be moved by arguments or motives;
as, an
impenetrable
mind, or heart
.
They will be credulous in all affairs of life, but
impenetrable
by a sermon of the gospel.
Jer. Taylor.

Webster 1828 Edition


Impenetrable

IMPEN'ETRABLE

,
Adj.
[L. impenetrabilis; in and penetrabilis, from penetro, to penetrate.]
1.
That cannot be penetrated or pierced; not admitting the passage of other bodies; as an impenetrable shield.
2.
Not to be affected or moved; not admitting impressions on the mind. The hardened sinner remains impenetrable to the admonitions of the gospel.
3.
Not to be entered by the sight; as impenetrable darkness. Hence,
4.
Not to be entered and viewed by the eye of the intellect; as impenetrable obscurity or abstruseness.

Definition 2024


impenetrable

impenetrable

See also: impénétrable

English

Adjective

impenetrable (not comparable)

  1. Not penetrable.
    The fortress is impenetrable, so it cannot be taken.
    • 2012 November 18, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time:
      The avalanche spread and stopped, locking everything it carried into an icy cocoon. It was now a jagged, virtually impenetrable pile of ice, longer than a football field and nearly as wide.
  2. (figuratively) Incomprehensible; inscrutable.
    Business jargon makes this document impenetrable, I can't understand it.

Antonyms

Translations


Spanish

Etymology

From Latin impenetrabilis.

Adjective

impenetrable m, f (plural impenetrables)

  1. impenetrable
    • 1867, Cesare Cantù, Historia universal, 8, page 118:
      como una muralla impenetrable