Impenetrable \Im*pen"e*tra*ble\, a. [L. impenetrabilis; pref.
im- not + penetrabilis penetrable: cf. F.
imp['e]n['e]trable.]
1. Incapable of being penetrated or pierced; not admitting
the passage of other bodies; not to be entered;
impervious; as, an impenetrable shield.
[1913 Webster]
Highest woods impenetrable
To star or sunlight. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Physics) Having the property of preventing any other
substance from occupying the same space at the same time.
[1913 Webster]
3. Inaccessible, as to knowledge, reason, sympathy, etc.;
unimpressible; not to be moved by arguments or motives;
as, an impenetrable mind, or heart.
[1913 Webster]
They will be credulous in all affairs of life, but
impenetrable by a sermon of the gospel. --Jer.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
impenetrable
adj 1: not admitting of penetration or passage into or through; "an
impenetrable fortress"; "impenetrable rain forests"
[ant: penetrable]
2: permitting little if any light to pass through because of
denseness of matter; "dense smoke"; "heavy fog";
"impenetrable gloom" [syn: dense, heavy]
3: impossible to understand; "impenetrable jargon"
WordNet (r) 2.0
115 Moby Thesaurus words for "impenetrable":
Greek to one, ambiguous, arcane, beyond reach,
beyond understanding, cabalistic, close, close-knit,
close-textured, close-woven, closed forever to, closed to, compact,
compacted, compressed, concentrated, concrete, condensed,
congested, consolidated, crammed, crammed full, crowded, dense,
exuberant, firm, flourishing, gluey, gross, hard, heavy, holeproof,
impassable, impermeable, impervious, impregnable, inaccessible,
inarticulate, incognizable, incoherent, incomprehensible,
incontestable, indomitable, inexpugnable, inscrutable, insuperable,
invincible, inviolable, invulnerable, irresistible, jam-packed,
jammed, jungled, jungly, lost to, lush, luxuriant, massive, mystic,
nonporous, nonpuncturable, numinous, out of reach, overgrown,
overpowering, overrun, overwhelming, packed, past comprehension,
punctureproof, rambling, rank, resistless, riotous, serried, solid,
substantial, thick, thick-growing, thickset, un-come-at-able,
unaccessible, unaccountable, unapproachable, unassailable,
unattainable, unavailable, unbeatable, unconnected, unconquerable,
undiscoverable, unfathomable, ungettable, ungraspable, unguessed,
unintelligible, unknowable, unobtainable, unpassable, unperforable,
unpierceable, unprocurable, unreachable, unsearchable, unsecurable,
unsubduable, unsurmountable, unweeded, unyielding, viscid, viscose,
viscous, weed-choked, weed-ridden, weedy
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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