🚧 Impossible to cross 🛡️ Cannot feel pain 😐 No emotion shown

impassible

9.2

Impossible to travel through because obstacles block the way

adjective
/ɪmˈpæsəbl/

: intransitable

To run a wall of impassible wire across the desert.

Examples

After the storm, the mountain path became impassible due to fallen trees and rocks.
Heavy flooding made the main road impassible for several days.
The thick snow rendered the village impassible until the plows arrived.

Synonyms

insurmountable

vsimpassible

33 8.5

Impossible to get past

refers to inability to cross specifically rather than broad difficulty

inaccessible

vsimpassible

28 7.9

Not able to be reached, used, or understood

is about reach or use rather than only travel across

impenetrable

vsimpassible

19 7.3

Not possible to enter or go through

stresses blockage to entry more than simple travel impossibility

unreachable

vsimpassible

15 4.9

Too difficult to get to because of where or how it is

focuses on getting to a place rather than crossing through obstacles

impassable

vsimpassible

13 5.3

A road, path, or area you cannot travel through

has the same meaning but is a different written form

insuperable

vsimpassible

Formal

2 9.1

So hard that no one can get past it

is focused on travel impossibility rather than general unsolvable problems

uncrossable

vsimpassible

1 5.6

Too dangerous or blocked to go across

emphasizes inability to cross rather than general approachability

unbridgeable

vsimpassible

1 8.0

A gap too large to be closed or fixed

describes crossing impossibility rather than separation that cannot be joined

unapproachable

vsimpassible

1 7.1

Hard to reach because it is far away or blocked

highlights distance or inaccessibility rather than travel obstruction

unpassable

vsimpassible

1 6.9

A road or path that people cannot cross

is used the same way but is a variant spelling

untraversable

vsimpassible

1 9.1

Not possible to cross by people or vehicles

means the same but focuses on travel rather than access

unbreachable

vsimpassible

1 7.7

So strong that no one can break into or get past it

focuses on resisting breakage rather than mere crossing difficulty

unsurmountable

vsimpassible

1 8.1

Impossible to overcome or get past, like a problem you cannot solve

is about physical crossing rather than general challenge overcoming

blocked

vsimpassible

1.7

Closed so nothing can pass through, for example a nose or road

shows a specific obstruction cause rather than general impossibility

Antonyms

passable

4 3.5

A road or route you can travel because it is not blocked

navigable

3 5.0

A waterway deep and wide enough for ships to travel safely

How Passable

open

18 1.0

passable

4 3.5

impassible

9.2

Surface Forms

impassible positive

Morphology

impassible = passible (transparent) = im + pass + ible

The prefix 'im-' negates the base word 'passible', making it clear that something cannot be passed or traversed.

Etymology

Impassible comes from in- meaning 'not' and pass meaning 'to go past' or 'cross', so it literally means 'not able to be passed'. Think of a road blocked by snow or fallen trees that you cannot travel through.