Standard Lemma guide

impenetrability

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The characteristic of being impenetrable; invulnerability.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1651, uncredited translator, Naturall Philosophie Reformed by Divine Light, or, A Synopsis of Physicks by J. A. Comenius, London: Thomas Pierrepont, Chapter 4, “Of the tangible quality,” Humidity (or humour) is the liquidnesse of the parts of the body, and aptnesse to be penetrated by one another; siccity on the contrary is a consistency, and an impenetrability of the parts of the body.
  • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not ..., Part I, Chapter 7, in Parade's End, New York: Knopf, 1950, p. 137, He watched intently the place where she must appear; it would give him pointers about the impenetrability of mist to the eye.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

incomprehensibility by virtue of being too dense to understand

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: impenetrableness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: incomprehensibility

3

noun

Meaning 3

the quality of being impenetrable (by people or light or missiles etc.)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: imperviousness

Antonyms: penetrability

Broader terms: quality

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: impenetrabilitat — the characteristic of being impenetrable
  • French: impénétrabilité — the characteristic of being impenetrable
  • Galician: impenetrabilidade — the characteristic of being impenetrable
  • Irish: neamh-intreáiteacht — the characteristic of being impenetrable
  • Spanish: impenetrabilidad — the characteristic of being impenetrable
  • Ottoman Turkish: حصانت (hasanet) — the characteristic of being impenetrable