Definition of "impenetrability" in English

noun

1. The characteristic of being impenetrable; invulnerability.

   • 1651, uncredited translator, Naturall Philosophie Reformed by Divine Light, or, A Synopsis of Physicks by J. A. Comenius, London: Thomas Pierrepont, Chapter 4, “Of the tangible quality,” Humidity (or humour) is the liquidnesse of the parts of the body, and aptnesse to be penetrated by one another; siccity on the contrary is a consistency, and an impenetrability of the parts of the body.
   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not ..., Part I, Chapter 7, in Parade's End, New York: Knopf, 1950, p. 137, He watched intently the place where she must appear; it would give him pointers about the impenetrability of mist to the eye.
   • If everybody came to agree that stories should be told this clearly, the professors of literature would be out of a job, and the writers of obscure, encoded fiction would be, not honored, but pitied for their impenetrability.