impenetrable
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Not admitting of penetration or passage into or through.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihmpehnuhtruhbuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪmˈpɛnətɹəbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Opaque; obscure; not translucent or transparent.
figuratively
Incomprehensible; fathomless; inscrutable.
Not admitting of penetration or passage into or through
noun
A person not openly given to friendship.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Opaque; obscure; not translucent or transparent.
Used this way, impenetrable is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use impenetrable
- “An impenetrable fortress.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.