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impossibly

impossibly

31 5.7
To a very great degree that seems like it cannot be true
  • adverb
  • /ɪmˈpɑːsəblɪ/
translation icon : imposiblemente
  • The task seemed impossibly difficult, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and uncertain.
  • impossibly high
  • impossibly difficult
  • impossibly complex

So a quick and impossibly deep question.

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Examples

  • That seems an impossibly long period of time for anything to remain alive, even frozen inside of an iceberg.

  • There is an impossibly fine line between sanity and madness.

  • And I think it's just impossibly deep, actually.

  • That we're able to work on impossibly hard things.

  • And I know it sounds impossibly hard to do basic things of life.

  • I know that it is terrible in the dark and friends feel impossibly far away.

  • To our impossibly difficult professor.

  • Not long after sitting in, he saw that the details of the plot were impossibly similar to those of his own life.

  • However, their mission to sink as much tonnage as possible was impossibly large for such a small fleet.

  • I've been moving through Greenland trying to get to villages and settlements that are impossibly far away.

Synonyms

unimaginably
vsimpossibly
8 6.8

To a degree that is very hard to believe

is broader and also includes things impossible to accomplish
inconceivably
vsimpossibly
2 7.7

In a way that is very hard to imagine

also applies to things that cannot be actually achieved or done
unfathomably
vsimpossibly
1 8.2

In a way that is so great it cannot be understood or believed

can also indicate impossibility of being practically achieved
unthinkably
vsimpossibly
1 7.5

An amount so great you cannot imagine

can equally refer to impossibility of being carried out in practice
implausibly
vsimpossibly
1 7.5

In a way that is hard to believe

expresses a stronger sense stating something cannot be believed or done
unattainably
vsimpossibly
1 7.5

In a way that is impossible to reach or achieve

also covers being impossible to believe or to imagine
unachievably
vsimpossibly
8.4

In a way that cannot be reached

is used more widely to mean impossible to accept or believe
unreachably
vsimpossibly
8.3

So far away that you cannot reach it

extends also to impossibility in belief or in degree
inaccessibly
vsimpossibly
8.1

So hard to reach that few people can get to it

covers both physical impossibility and being unbelievable in degree
impracticably
vsimpossibly
  • Formal
7.4

In a way that is too difficult or impossible to do

is more absolute and also covers impossibility of belief
unfeasibly
vsimpossibly
6.9

In a way that is not possible or very hard to do

leans more toward complete impossibility and toward disbelief too

Antonyms

1.0

May happen or be true and sometimes makes a request more polite

2 3.2

In a way that seems real or true

How Extreme

impossibly
31 5.7
extremely
1.0
quite
1.0
somewhat
816 2.0
slightly
885 1.0

Surface Forms

impossibly positive

Morphology

impossibly = impossible (transparent) = im + possible + ly

Formed by adding the adverbial suffix '-ly' to the adjective 'impossible'; the meaning 'in an impossible way' follows standard English derivation.

Etymology

Impossibly combines im- meaning 'not' and possible meaning 'able to happen', with -ly to make it an adverb. So it literally means 'in a way that is not possible', and people also use it to mean 'very' or 'extremely', as in 'She looked impossibly elegant'.