improbability
4
7.0
- noun
- /ɪmˌprɑːbəˈbɪləti/
- That I should want you at all suddenly strikes me as the height of improbability.
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Watch on YouTubeSo it's long maybe in the statistical improbability of the steps that have to be taken.
- So it's long maybe in the statistical improbability of the steps that have to be taken.
- It seems like a great improbability.
- It comes alive in the midst of improbability, impermanence, and possibility.
- But you know, when you talk about the improbability of, you know, heaven, how improbable is this life?
Examples
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Most biologists regard life's appearance as an event of stunning improbability: a repetition, they feel, is simply too unlikely.
Academic text (1999) -
The improbability of winning the lottery makes it a gamble for most people.
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So put the improbability of failure out of your mind.
Fiction book (2001) -
Producing our own oil is an improbability; we consume too much.
Blog text (27) -
But you know, when you talk about the improbability of, you know, heaven, how improbable is this life?
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And once he accepted that improbability, Neil could let his eyes close again, trying to will himself back into that timeless place.
Fiction book (2001) -
Hyperbole and improbability have led to reader incredulity.
Academic text (2001) -
Missing is the improbability, the surprise, the controversy—in short, the human dimension—of history.
Academic text (2004) -
Here they continue their analysis of UFOs with a more general discussion of the improbability of spaceflight, cover-ups, and the psychological appeal of alien visitors and ancient astronauts.
Academic text (1992) -
But in formal publications, some prominent biologists have starkly disavowed all likelihood of contact with other species, pointing out the vast improbability of our own genesis and castigating SETI as a waste of resources.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
10
3.4
A very small possibility that something will happen
6
3.5
A very small possibility that something will happen
2
8.2
A situation when a story or excuse does not seem true
1
6.9
Not likely to happen or be true
1
5.6
A low chance that something will happen
1
8.8
A feeling of not believing something because it seems unlikely
The state of being unlikely to happen or be true
The quality of being impossible to accept as true
A quality that makes people doubt something because it seems untrue
Antonyms
How Likely
- Literature
202
3.4
274
3.6
∞
2.0
4
7.0
37
5.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
improbability = improbable (transparent) = im + probable + ity
Standard noun formation from the adjective 'improbable' (im- + probable) indicating the state or quality of not being probable, which is directly derivable by learners.
Etymology
Improbability comes from the parts im- ('not') and probable ('likely' or 'reasonable'), so an improbability is something 'not likely' to happen or be true.