impenetrableとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From 中期英語 inpenetrabel, inpenetrabyle, from Middle French impenetrable or directly from its etymon, Latin impenetrābilis. By surface analysis, im- +‎ penetrable.

発音

• IPA: /ɪmˈpɛnətɹəbəl/, /ɪmˈpɛnɪtɹəbəl/
• ハイフネーション: im‧pen‧e‧tra‧ble

形容詞

impenetrable (not comparable)

1. Not penetrable.

   Synonyms: impermeable, impregnable

   Antonyms: penetrable, permeable, pregnable

   The fortress is impenetrable, so it cannot be taken.

   • 2012, John Branch, “Snow fall: The avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 June 2024:

     The avalanche spread and stopped, locking everything it carried into an icy cocoon. It was now a jagged, virtually impenetrable pile of ice, longer than a football field and nearly as wide.

2. Opaque; obscure; not translucent or transparent.
   • 1991, Varg Vikernes, “Dunkelheit”, performed by Burzum:

     When night falls, she cloaks the world in impenetrable darkness.

3. (figuratively) Incomprehensible; fathomless; inscrutable.

   Synonyms: unfathomable; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

   Antonyms: fathomable; see also Thesaurus:comprehensible

   Business jargon makes this document impenetrable—I can’t understand it.

派生語

名詞

impenetrable (plural impenetrables)

1. A person not openly given to friendship. (clarification of this definition is needed)
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XXVI. Lady Marchmont to Sir Jasper Meredith.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 236:

     I should lose the reputation that I am gradually acquiring among our impenetrables here, were I to confess the excitement which I felt at the idea of entering his house—the house of that great general under whose command you made your first charge.

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