I. im ‧ pos ‧ si ‧ ble 1 S2 W2 /ɪmˈpɒsəb ə l, ɪmˈpɒsɪb ə l $ ɪmˈpɑː-/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ possibility ≠ ↑ impossibility , the impossible, ↑ possible ; adverb : ↑ possibly ≠ ↑ impossibly ; adjective : ↑ possible ≠ ↑ impossible ]
1 . something that is impossible cannot happen or be done OPP possible :
‘I want to speak to Mr Franks.’ ‘I’m afraid that’s impossible.’
It’s impossible to be accurate about these things.
The noise made sleep impossible.
Members with young children often found it impossible to attend evening meetings.
It is difficult to find work these days, but for blind people it is virtually impossible.
He was faced with a seemingly impossible task.
It was physically impossible to get the fridge through the door.
Six months ago, peace seemed an impossible dream.
Such mental attitudes are difficult, if not impossible, to change.
2 . a situation that is impossible is one that you cannot deal with:
We were in an impossible situation. Whatever we decided to do would upset someone.
Helen’s refusal to cooperate put me in an impossible position.
His attitude is making life impossible for the rest of the team.
He was facing impossible odds.
3 . behaving in a very unreasonable and annoying way:
Oh, you’re just impossible!
—impossibly adverb :
Some sales managers think selling abroad is impossibly difficult.
—impossibility /ɪmˌpɒsəˈbɪləti, ɪmˌpɒsɪˈbɪləti $ -ˌpɑː-/ noun [uncountable and countable] :
One hundred percent airline security is a practical impossibility.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ seem impossible
It seemed impossible that he would ever recover from the injury.
▪ become impossible
As it became darker, it became impossible for the players to see the ball.
▪ prove impossible (=be impossible because you have tried but not succeeded)
It proved impossible for the two sides to reach an agreement.
▪ find something impossible
He found it impossible to sleep because of the noise coming from next door.
▪ make something impossible
Heavy snow made travelling impossible.
▪ render something impossible formal (=make something impossible)
The large number of prison guards rendered any escape impossible.
■ adverbs
▪ absolutely impossible ( also utterly impossible formal )
It is absolutely impossible to drive in these conditions.
▪ almost/nearly impossible
He thought that winning would be almost impossible.
▪ virtually/practically impossible (=almost impossible)
Getting tickets for the concert is practically impossible.
▪ well-nigh impossible formal (=almost impossible )
Policing the entire coastline is well-nigh impossible.
▪ seemingly impossible (=seeming to be impossible)
He managed to win the chess game from a seemingly impossible position.
▪ physically impossible
It is physically impossible to survive for long in the desert without water.
■ nouns
▪ an impossible job/task
He faced the impossible task of paying back huge debts.
▪ an impossible feat (=something that is impossible to do)
She achieved the seemingly impossible feat of breaking the world record.
▪ an impossible dream (=something you want, but will never happen)
For a small club, winning the cup final will always be the impossible dream.
▪ impossible demands
She was growing tired of the company’s impossible demands.
■ phrases
▪ it is impossible to do something
It is impossible to know if this story is true.
▪ difficult, if not impossible (=difficult, and perhaps impossible)
Obtaining funding for the film will be difficult, if not impossible.
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THESAURUS
▪ impossible something that is impossible cannot happen or be done:
It’s impossible to get a taxi around here.
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At times, finding a job felt like an impossible task.
▪ impractical something that is impractical is too expensive, takes too much time, is too difficult etc and therefore it is not sensible to try to do it:
It’s a nice idea, but it’s totally impractical.
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We cannot all just stop using our cars - that would be completely impractical.
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an impractical suggestion
▪ out of the question used when saying that something is completely impossible, especially because it is not allowed:
It’s out of the question for you to go alone.
▪ there’s no way informal used when saying that you think something is completely impossible:
There’s no way we can get to the airport in less than an hour.
▪ inconceivable impossible to imagine or believe:
It seemed inconceivable that there could be an end to the fighting in Northern Ireland.
▪ unthinkable impossible to imagine or believe - used especially about something that seems very shocking to people:
In those days it was unthinkable for a lady to work outside the home.
▪ unattainable impossible to achieve:
an unattainable goal
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Victory seemed unattainable.
▪ it can’t be done spoken used when saying very definitely that something is impossible:
I’m afraid it can’t be done.
II. impossible 2 BrE AmE noun
the impossible something that cannot be done
attempt/do/ask etc the impossible
I just want to be able to buy healthy food at a reasonable price. Is that asking the impossible?