unpossible

English

Etymology

From Middle English unpossible, equivalent to un- (not) + possible.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʌnˈpɒsɪbəl/

Adjective

unpossible (comparative more unpossible, superlative most unpossible)

  1. (now rare, nonstandard) Impossible.
    • 1526, William Tyndale, New Testament, British Library 2000, p. 119:
      And this is the. vj. moneth to her, which was called barren, for with god shall nothinge be unpossible.
    • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: [], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970:
      , New York Review of Books, 2001, p.280:
      ’Tis a hard matter therefore to confine them, being they are so various and many, unpossible to apprehend all.
    • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p.97:
      In the evening we fired a few rackets, which flying in the ayre so terrified the poore Salvages, they supposed nothing unpossible we attempted […].
    • 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, XXI:
      [S]o prodigiously various are the works of the Creator, and so All-sufficient is he to perform what to man would seem unpossible […].
    • 1994, The Simpsons, "Lisa on Ice":
      Ralph Wiggum: Me fail English? That's unpossible!
    • 2008, David Goldberg, Mimecast, "meeting with HKS":
      I think we can all agree that this is unpossible.

Usage notes

In modern use, the term is usually considered non-standard.

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