Etymology From Middle English impossible, equivalent to im- + possible.
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Usually Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
Antonio: What impossible matter will he make easy next? Sebastian: I think he will carry this island home in his pocket and give it his son for an apple. Antonio : And sowing the kernels of it in the sea bring forth more islands.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
It was impoſſible that the queen of France [Marie Antoinette] ſhould not be deeply affected by a conteſt, which ſo cloſely involved her neareſt and deareſt connections, and threatened ſo immediate and perhaps irreparable a breach of the harmony and friendſhip ſubſiſting between them.1787, “The History of Europe”, in The Annual Register, or A View of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the Years 1784 and 1785, volume XXVII, London: Printed by J[ames] Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, →OCLC, chapter VIII, page 134, column 1:
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ALICE: I'm looking for a White Rabbit.... So if you don't mind. (Alice looks through the key hole) There he is - I simply must get through DOORKNOB: Sorry, you're much too big. Simply impassable. ALICE: You mean impossible. DOORKNOB: No, IMPASSABLE - NOTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE.1951, Alice in Wonderland, Walt Disney Productions; quoted in Jabberwocky, volumes 1–2, The Lewis Carroll Society, 1969, page 9:
13 March 1962, John F. Kennedy, speech at the White House Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
It is difficult, if not impossible, to memorize 20,000 consecutive numbers.
Etymology From Middle English impossible, equivalent to im- + possible.
1
An impossibility.
In fact, to most people, the real impossibles do not seem impossible, or wonderful, or even difficult at all.1888 November, Joseph Le Conte, “The Problem of a Flying-Machine”, in The Popular Science Monthly, volume 34, page 70:
“Ye can't expect impossibles, and Jim hadn't no idee o' takin' yer trunk along of him in ther buggy when he kem hyar this mornin'.1890, Jean Kate Ludlum, At Brown's: An Adirondack Story, page 15:
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For one thing, the Gospel's moral impossibles appear, in this light, not as an objection to Christianity, but as one of its most striking evidences.1903, Jonathan Brierley, Problems of Living, page 16:
Yes, the church lives for impossibles, and she lives by impossibles, and if she shrinks from impossibles her own vigor will shrink and die.1911, J. H. Jowett, “Turning Back”, in Homiletic Review, volume 61, page 392:
Aristotle (1952), in his Nicomachean Ethics, described the relation between will and choice: a Choice cannot relate to impossibles, and if anyone said he chose them he would be thought silly;2000, Kenneth D. Keith, Robert L. Schalock, Cross-cultural Perspectives on Quality of Life, page 292:
Dreams are made out of impossibles. We cannot reach the impossibles by using the analytical minds which are trained to deal with hard information which is currently available.2010, The Journal of Parliamentary Information - Volume 56, page 20:
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A skateboard trick consisting of a backflip performed in midair.