impossible
im·pos·si·ble/ɪmˈpɒs.ɪ.bəl/adjective, noun
impossible is spelled I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E, 4 syllables: im·pos·si·ble. The wrong spelling people search most is inpossible: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 91 of all searches for the word. Impossible is an adjective meaning “Not possible; not able to be done or happen”.
How many letters and syllables are in impossible?
| Letters | 10: I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: im·pos·si·ble |
| In writing | 60 times per million words; the 1,724th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, inpossible, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell impossible?
Impossible is spelled I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 61 of the searches for impossible in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is impossible?
Impossible appears 60 times per million words in written English, the 1,724th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce impossible?
- UK /ɪmˈpɒs.ɪ.bəl/
- UK [ɪmˈpɒs.ɪ.bl̩]
- UK /ɪmˈpɒs.ə.bəl/
Impossible has 4 syllables, split im·pos·si·ble in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-impossible.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of impossible
- more impossible comparative
- most impossible superlative
- impossibles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does impossible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
13 March 1962, John F. Kennedy, speech at the White House Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
- 2
colloquialVery difficult to deal with.
You never listen to a word I say – you're impossible!
- 3
datedimaginary
impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers
noun
- 1
An impossibility.
- 2
A skateboard trick consisting of a backflip performed in midair.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Impossible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | impossible , insupportable |
| German | unmöglich |
| Portuguese | impossível , insuportável |
| Spanish | imposible, inasumible , insoportable |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does impossible come from?
From Middle English impossible, equivalent to im- + possible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).