Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Incapable of being penetrated.
  • adjective Incapable of being affected.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not pervious; not to be passed through or penetrated; impermeable; impenetrable: as, a substance impervious to moisture.
  • Synonyms Impenetrable, impassable, pathless.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not pervious; not admitting of entrance or passage through.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective unaffected or unable to be affected by
  • adjective preventative of any penetration; impenetrable, impermeable, particularly of water
  • adjective immune to damage or effect

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not admitting of passage or capable of being affected

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin impervius : in-, not; see in– + pervius, pervious; see pervious.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin impervius ("cannot be passed through"), from in- ("not") + pervius ("letting things through")

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Examples

  • Modest increases in impervious surface due to construction of cottages can in most cases easily be offset by modest removal of impervious surfaces on affected lots, and/or disconnection of downspouts from pipes that discharge runoff to streets.

    Report Card Gives Low Marks to City Council Members « PubliCola 2010

  • We, the English, as you can see, are of average height, smoke a pipe, carry a rolled umbrella, go to the best schools, yet remain impervious to knowledge.

    Up the Empire—Interbreeding for a Better World 1978

  • With the assistance of such guides, nothing could remain impervious or inaccessible; resistance was fatal; flight was impracticable; and the patient submission of helpless innocence seldom found mercy from the Barbarian conqueror.

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206

  • Fletcher: "We need to go back and reduce the amount of what we call impervious surface, the amount of pavement and roofs that won't absorb water.

    KUOW 94.9 Puget Sound Public Radio 2010

  • Fletcher: "We need to go back and reduce the amount of what we call impervious surface, the amount of pavement and roofs that won't absorb water.

    KUOW 94.9 Puget Sound Public Radio 2010

  • All of nature’s indicators speak of global strain, and yet we the relatively affluent remain impervious to it.

    ASAP HOUSE: House About Saving a Planet | Inhabitat 2007

  • "Inner-directed" could be defined as impervious to outside criticism, advice or even reality.

    Printing: Bush's Way or the Highway 2006

  • "Inner-directed" could be defined as impervious to outside criticism, advice or even reality.

    Bush's Way or the Highway 2006

  • New technology, a changing marketplace, and the emergence of a global economy are factors to which no nation and no economic system can remain impervious.

    The Final Decade: The Outlook for Canada 1991

  • In the execution of my recommendations in every department of the service he was always eager, capable, in one word impervious against every temptation to ease, unwearied by any labour, fearless of every danger.

    Kościuszko A Biography 1907

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