impossibly

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪmˈpɑsəbli/ UK /ɪmˈpɒsəbli/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adv
to a degree that is impossible or seemingly beyond belief

The deadline was impossibly tight for a team of only three people.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · to a degree that is... unbelievably incredibly inconceivably unfeasibly hopelessly

Opposites

possiblyfeasibly

Word family

Related forms impossible impossibility possible

Etymology

From impossible (from Latin impossibilis, 'not possible', from in- 'not' + posse 'to be able') + the adverbial suffix -ly.

impossibilis Latin posse Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

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# impossibly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /ɪmˈpɑsəbli/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪmˈpɒsəbli/

## Meanings
1. to a degree that is impossible or seemingly beyond belief

## Examples
- The deadline was impossibly tight for a team of only three people.

## Synonyms
- unbelievably
- incredibly
- inconceivably
- unfeasibly
- hopelessly

## Antonyms
- possibly
- feasibly

## Related Forms
- impossible
- impossibility
- possible

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: impossibilis
- Root: posse

## Etymology
From impossible (from Latin impossibilis, 'not possible', from in- 'not' + posse 'to be able') + the adverbial suffix -ly.

## AI Etymology
impossibly comes from impossible (from Latin impossibilis, 'not possible', from in- 'not' + posse 'to be able') + the adverbial suffix -ly. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the adverb sense is "to a degree that is impossible or seemingly beyond belief", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as impossible, impossibility, and possible. Its semantic neighborhood includes unbelievably, incredibly, inconceivably, and unfeasibly, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin impossibilis and Latin posse.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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impossibly

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