impenetrable

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Related to impenetrable: indefatigable, poignant

im·pen·e·tra·ble

(ĭm-pĕn′ĭ-trə-bəl)

adj.

1. Impossible to penetrate or enter: an impenetrable fortress.

2. Impossible to understand; incomprehensible: impenetrable jargon.

3. Impervious to sentiment or argument: an impenetrable heart.

im·pen′e·tra·ble·ness n.

im·pen′e·tra·bly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

impenetrable

(ɪmˈpɛnɪtrəbəl)

adj

1. incapable of being pierced through or penetrated: an impenetrable forest.

2. incapable of being understood; incomprehensible: impenetrable jargon.

3. incapable of being seen through: impenetrable gloom.

4. not susceptible to ideas, influence, etc: impenetrable ignorance.

5. (General Physics) physics (of a body) incapable of occupying the same space as another body

imˌpenetraˈbility n

imˈpenetrableness n

imˈpenetrably adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

im•pen•e•tra•ble

(ɪmˈpɛn ɪ trə bəl)

adj.

1. incapable of being penetrated, pierced, or entered.

2. unsympathetic to ideas or influences.

3. incapable of being understood; unfathomable: an impenetrable mystery.

4. possessing impenetrability.

[1425–75; late Middle English < Latin]

im•pen′e•tra•ble•ness, n.

im•pen′e•tra•bly, adv

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	impenetrable - not admitting of penetration or passage into or through; "an impenetrable fortress"; "impenetrable rain forests" penetrable - admitting of penetration or passage into or through; "a penetrable wall"; "penetrable defenses"
	2.	impenetrable - permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter; "dense smoke"; "heavy fog"; "impenetrable gloom" dense, heavy thick - relatively dense in consistency; "thick cream"; "thick soup"; "thick smoke"; "thick fog"
	3.	impenetrable - impossible to understand; "impenetrable jargon" uncomprehensible, incomprehensible - difficult to understand; "the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible"- A. Einstein

impenetrable

adjective

1. impassable, solid, impervious, thick, dense, hermetic, impermeable, inviolable, unpierceable The range forms an impenetrable barrier between Europe and Asia.
impassable accessible, passable, penetrable, enterable, pierceable

2. incomprehensible, obscure, baffling, dark, hidden, mysterious, enigmatic, arcane, inexplicable, unintelligible, inscrutable, unfathomable, indiscernible, cabbalistic, enigmatical His philosophical work is notoriously impenetrable.
incomprehensible clear, obvious, understandable, soluble, explicable

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

impenetrable

adjective

Incapable of being grasped by the intellect or understanding:

incomprehensible, inscrutable, uncomprehensible, unfathomable, unintelligible.

Translations

لا يُمْكِن إخْتِراقُهمُبْهَم، لا يُمْكِن فَهْمُه

neproniknutelnýnevyzpytatelný

uforståeliguigennemtrængeligutilgængelig

undurchdringlich unergründlich

impénétrable imperméable insondable

áthatolhatatlanátláthatatlan

órjúfanleguróskiljanlegur

impenetrabile

neįžengiamasnesuprantamas

necaurejamsnecaurredzamsneizdibināmsneizprotams

ugjennomtrengelig uutgrunnelig

nepreniknuteľný

anlaşılamaziçine girilemez

穿不透的费解的

impenetrable

[ɪmˈpenɪtrəbl] ADJ

1. (= impassable) [jungle, barrier, fortress] → impenetrable

2. (= difficult to understand) [writing, idea, accent] → incomprensible; [mystery] → insondable, inescrutable; [expression] → inescrutable

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

impenetrable

[ɪmˈpɛnɪtrəb^əl] adj

[forest, barrier] → impénétrable

(= difficult to understand) → impénétrable

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

impenetrable

adj → undurchdringlich; fortress → uneinnehmbar; enemy lines → undurchlässig; mind, character, mystery → unergründlich; theory → undurchschaubar, undurchsichtig; accent → völlig unverständlich (to sb für jdn)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

impenetrable

[ɪmˈpɛnɪtrəbl] adj (jungle) → impenetrabile; (fortress) → inespugnabile (fig) → incomprensibile

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

impenetrable

(imˈpenitrəbl) adjective

1. that cannot be penetrated, entered or passed through. impenetrable jungle.

2. impossible to understand. an impenetrable mystery.

impenetrable

a. impenetrable, que no puede ser penetrado.

References in classic literature ?

They ran thus: "AN IMPENETRABLE MYSTERY SEEMS DESTINED TO HANG FOR EVER OVER THIS ACT OF MADNESS OR DESPAIR."

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The same waves wash the moles of the new-built Californian towns, but yesterday planted by the recentest race of men, and lave the faded but still gorgeous skirts of Asiatic lands, older than Abraham; while all between float milky-ways of coral isles, and low-lying, endless, unknown Archipelagoes, and impenetrable Japans.

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It recalls a jungle by the confused, varied, and impenetrable aspect of the buildings that line the shore, not according to a planned purpose, but as if sprung up by accident from scattered seeds.

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She felt herself clad in an impenetrable armor of falsehood.

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He was safe; and on all sides of his dwelling servile fears and servile hopes slept, dreaming of success, behind the severe discretion of doors as impenetrable to the truth within as the granite of tombstones.

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By striking numerous matches the Belgian at last found what he sought, and when, a moment later, the sickly rays relieved the Stygian darkness about him, he breathed a nervous sigh of relief, for the impenetrable gloom had accentuated the terrors of his situation.

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Francine was impenetrable. "No," she answered, "I am going to stay here with Emily."

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"I want to pay my respects to my dear aunt," Felix answered, perfectly impenetrable to his ungracious reception, and perfectly comfortable in a spacious arm-chair.

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"And how many impenetrable battleships strike terror to the hearts of all Christian swine?" he asked the Imaum of the Ever Victorious Navy.

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They had to raise enormous stones, massive pieces of wrought iron, heavy corner-clamps and huge portions of cylinder, with an object-glass weighing nearly 30,000 pounds, above the line of perpetual snow for more than 10,000 feet in height, after crossing desert prairies, impenetrable forests, fearful rapids, far from all centers of population, and in the midst of savage regions, in which every detail of life becomes an almost insoluble problem.

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He had a haughty bearing, a look either steady and impenetrable or insolently piercing and inquisitorial.

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Meantime bands of Convicts occupied every entrance with an impenetrable phalanx.

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