English[]
Etymology[]
From im- + practicable.
Pronunciation[]
Adjective[]
Impracticable (comparative {{{1}}}, superlative {{{2}}})
Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
- Not practicable; impossible or difficult in practice.
- Of a passage or road: impassable.
- (obsolete) Of a person or thing: unmanageable.
- 1713, Nicholas Rowe, The Fair Penitent[1], published 1797:
- And yet this tough impracticable heart / Is govern'd by a dainty-finger'd girl ; Template:...
- c. 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks[2], published 1960, page 18:
- H. is a person of extraordinary health & vigor, of unerring perception, & equal expression; and yet he is impracticable, and does not flow through his pen or (in any of our legitimate aqueducts) through his tongue.
- 1713, Nicholas Rowe, The Fair Penitent[1], published 1797:
Antonyms[]
- (impossible or difficult in practice): practicable
Derived terms[]
- impracticability
- impracticableness
- impracticably
Translations[]
not practicable
|
|
impassable
|
|
Noun[]
Singular |
Plural |
Impracticable ({{{1}}})
- (obsolete) An unmanageable person.
- 1829, Henry Barkley Henderson, The Bengalee, or Sketches of Society and Manners in the East[3], page 13:
- They were not allowed, of course, to join us in the sitting room, partly that their practice might not be disturbed, but principally, that I was looked upon as an utter impracticable.
- 1867, James Parton, Famous Americans of Recent Times[4], page 83:
- The strict constructionists had dwindled to a few impracticables, headed by John Randolph.
- 1870, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude[5], page 187:
- Then there are the gladiators, to whom it is always a battle ; 'tis no matter on which side, they fight for victory; then the heady men, the egotists, the monotones, the steriles, and the impracticables.
- 1829, Henry Barkley Henderson, The Bengalee, or Sketches of Society and Manners in the East[3], page 13:
fa:impracticable gl:impracticable io:impracticable kn:impracticable hu:impracticable ml:impracticable ru:impracticable fi:impracticable ta:impracticable te:impracticable vi:impracticable zh:impracticable