impenetrable

See also: impénétrable

English

Alternative forms

• (misspelling) inpenetrable

Etymology

From Middle French impenetrable, from Latin impenetrabilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɛnətɹəbəl/, /ɪmˈpɛnɪtɹəbəl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • Audio (Great Britain)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: im‧pen‧e‧tra‧ble

Adjective

impenetrable (not comparable)

1. Not penetrable.

   The fortress is impenetrable, so it cannot be taken.

   • 2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time‎^[1]:

     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; fathomless; inscrutable.

   Business jargon makes this document impenetrable, I can't understand it.

3. Opaque; obscure; not translucent or transparent.

   When night falls, she cloaks the world in impenetrable darkness.

Synonyms

• (not penetrable): impregnable, unfathomable
• (incomprehensible): See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “not penetrable”): penetrable, pregnable, fathomable
• (antonym(s) of “incomprehensible”): See also Thesaurus:comprehensible

See also

• impermeable

Noun

impenetrable (plural impenetrables)

1. A person not openly given to friendship. (clarification of this definition is needed)
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XXVI. Lady Marchmont to Sir Jasper Meredith.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 236:

     I should lose the reputation that I am gradually acquiring among our impenetrables 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.

Translations

not penetrable

• Bulgarian: непроницаем (bg) (nepronicaem), непроходим (bg) (neprohodim)
• Catalan: impenetrable
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不能通过的, 不能渗透的

• Czech: neproniknutelný, nedobytný (cs)
• Dutch: ondoordringbaar (nl)
• Finnish: läpitunkematon
• French: impénétrable (fr)
• German: undurchlässig (de)
• Greek: αδιαπέραστος (el) (adiapérastos)
• Latin: impenetrābilis, invius
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ugjennomtrengelig

  Nynorsk: ugjennomtrengeleg, ugjennomtrengjeleg

• Portuguese: impenetrável (pt)
• Romanian: impenetrabil (ro), de nepătruns, de nestrăpuns
• Russian: (impermeable) непроница́емый (ru) (nepronicájemyj), непроходи́мый (ru) (neproxodímyj)
• Spanish: impenetrable
• Ukrainian: непроникний (nepronyknyj)

incomprehensible; inscrutable

• Bulgarian: неразбираем (bg) (nerazbiraem)
• Catalan: impenetrable
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 难以理解的, 费解的

• Czech: nesrozumitelný (cs)
• Dutch: onbegrijpelijk (nl)

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin impenetrābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [im.pə.nəˈtɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [im.pe.neˈtɾa.ble]

Adjective

impenetrable m or f (masculine and feminine plural impenetrables)

1. impenetrable

Further reading

• “impenetrable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “impenetrable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “impenetrable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “impenetrable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin impenetrābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /impeneˈtɾable/ [ĩm.pe.neˈt̪ɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: im‧pe‧ne‧tra‧ble

Adjective

impenetrable m or f (masculine and feminine plural impenetrables)

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

     como una muralla impenetrable

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• impenetrabilidad

 

Further reading

• “impenetrable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014