Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Incapable of being penetrated: a material impervious to water.
- adj. Incapable of being affected: impervious to fear.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Not pervious; not to be passed through or penetrated; impermeable; impenetrable: as, a substance impervious to moisture.
- Synonyms Impenetrable, impassable, pathless.
Wiktionary
- adj. unaffected or unable to be affected by
- adj. preventative of any penetration; impenetrable, impermeable, particularly of water
- adj. immune to damage or effect
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Not pervious; not admitting of entrance or passage through.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. not admitting of passage or capable of being affected
Etymologies
- From Latin impervius ("cannot be passed through"), from in- ("not") + pervius ("letting things through") (Wiktionary)
- From Latin impervius : in-, not; see in-1 + pervius, pervious; see pervious. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“All of nature’s indicators speak of global strain, and yet we the relatively affluent remain impervious to it.”
“Inner-directed" could be defined as impervious to outside criticism, advice or even reality.”
“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.”
“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.”
“In metro Atlanta, the area blanketed by hard, man-made solids such as asphalt - what experts call impervious surface - grew by 20 percent over the past decade, the AJC's analysis shows, replacing acres of absorbent grasslands and forests.”
“These surfaces are usually impervious, meaning that water runs off of them without being absorbed into the soil.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘impervious’.
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Dominant/Submissive
single-minded, self-seeking, vain, territorial, stubborn, self-possessed, unwary, self-important, rigid, relentless, resolute, purposeful and 189 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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AFET - diplomacy
broker a peace ac..., client state, deadlocked peace ..., embassy, freeze, goodwill ambassador, hinterland, interfere in dome..., intervene personally, maintain technica..., mediation, no business as usual and 670 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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man gre
abase, abeyance, abreast, abscission, abscond, abyss, accede, accretion, acerbic, acidulous, acumen, adulterate and 483 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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Reading Vocab
ulterior, warrant, syllogism, precious, impiety, maroon, aigrette, batiste, topsy-turvy ago, midnight crush, cantankerous, slovenly and 180 more...
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GCI
spinster, maiden, happy-go-lucky, homonym, ill-at-ease, saw red, out of sorts, hot under the collar, taken aback, pen-names, alias, shoelaces and 378 more...
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Out of Book Words
commiserate, equanimity, dulcet, cursory, diffident, profligate, egregious, precocious, dissemble, aggregate, efficacy, ingenuous and 100 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL I
iconoclast, idiosyncrasy, ignoble, ignominious, illicit, illusory, illustrious, imbibe, imbue, immaculate, immaterial, immolate and 155 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
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