impossibility

noun

im·​pos·​si·​bil·​i·​ty (ˌ)im-ˌpä-sə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

1

: the quality or state of being impossible

2

: something impossible

Examples of impossibility in a Sentence

The blizzard made travel an impossibility.

the impossibility of knowing what the future will bring

Recent Examples on the Web

From Megan McArdle’s column on the excellent idea and utter impossibility that is making drivers pay for contributing to logjam. —Drew Goins, Washington Post, 12 June 2024

For me, no work compares to her Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, in which the devastation of slavery is paired with the intimacy and impossibility of motherhood. —The Week Us, theweek, 6 Mar. 2024

Beyond their ambitious, brain-bending hooks, Kaufman’s movies are remarkably consistent in withering worldview, following characters tortured by their inadequacies, their philandering appetites, the impossibility of artistic creation, or all of the above. —A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2024

Human rights and moral action Moral equivalence only defends inaction, then, if the acknowledgment of wrongdoing on each side is taken to indicate the impossibility of finding any meaningful moral difference between the sides. —Michael Blake, The Conversation, 31 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

impossibility

noun

im·​pos·​si·​bil·​i·​ty (ˌ)im-ˌpäs-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

plural impossibilities

1

: the quality or state of being impossible

2

: something impossible

Legal Definition

impossibility

noun

im·​pos·​si·​bil·​i·​ty

plural impossibilities

1

: the quality or state of being impossible

also : the affirmative defense that something (as performance) is impossible

2

: something impossible

3

: impossibility of performance in this entry

— factual impossibility

: impossibility based on factual circumstances

specifically : a partial defense to criminal liability based on the incompletion of an intended criminal act

Note: Factual impossibility is not a complete defense and does allow prosecution for attempt or for another inchoate offense. For example, if the defendant constructed a bomb that failed to explode, factual impossibility would be a defense against murder charges, but not attempted murder.

— impossibility of performance

: a doctrine in contract law that a party may be released from liability for breach of contract for failing to perform an obligation that is rendered impossible by uncontrollable circumstances (as death or failure of the means of delivery)

: a defense to breach of contract or a basis for release from contractual obligations because of impossibility of performance compare frustration, impracticability

— legal impossibility

: impossibility based on or with reference to a law

specifically : a complete defense to criminal liability based on the commitment of acts that are not criminal or illegal

Note: Legal impossibility is founded on the principle that an act is not a crime unless there is a law prohibiting it.