inconceivable

C2+ Topic:Mind & Cognition

US /ˌɪnkənˈsivəbəl/ UK /ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbəl/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
impossible to imagine or believe

It was inconceivable that he would betray his closest friend.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · impossible to imagine or... unimaginable unthinkable incredible implausible unbelievable impossible

Opposites

conceivable imaginable believable plausible

Word family

Forms inconceivably

Derived forms inconceivablyinconceivability

Related forms conceivable conceive conception

Etymology

From in- ('not') + conceivable, from conceive, from Old French concevoir, from Latin concipere ('to take in, conceive'), from com- (intensive) + capere ('to take').

concipere Latin capere Latin *kh₂p- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Mind & Cognition Word Formation & Derivatives

# inconceivable

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˌɪnkənˈsivəbəl
**IPA (UK):** ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbəl

## Meanings
1. impossible to imagine or believe

## Examples
- It was inconceivable that he would betray his closest friend.

## Synonyms
- unimaginable
- unthinkable
- incredible
- implausible
- unbelievable
- impossible

## Antonyms
- conceivable
- imaginable
- believable
- plausible

## Derived Forms
- inconceivably
- inconceivability

## Related Forms
- conceivable
- conceive
- conception

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: concipere
- Root: capere
- Root: *kh₂p-

## Etymology
From in- ('not') + conceivable, from conceive, from Old French concevoir, from Latin concipere ('to take in, conceive'), from com- (intensive) + capere ('to take').

## AI Etymology
inconceivable comes from in- ('not') + conceivable, from conceive, from Old French concevoir, from Latin concipere ('to take in, conceive'), from com- (intensive) + capere ('to take'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the adjective sense is "impossible to imagine or believe", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as conceivable, conceive, and conception, and in derivatives such as inconceivably and inconceivability. Its semantic neighborhood includes unimaginable, unthinkable, incredible, and implausible, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin concipere, Latin capere, and Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-.

## Topics
- Mind & Cognition
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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