impervious

English

Etymology

From Latin impervius (“that cannot be passed through”), from in- (“not”) + pervius (“letting things through”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɜːvi.əs/
• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɝ.vi.əs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)viəs

Adjective

impervious (comparative more impervious, superlative most impervious)

1. Unaffected or unable to be affected by something.

   The man was completely impervious to the deception we were trying.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.

   • 2022 September 18, “The $300bn Google-Meta advertising duopoly is under attack”, in The Economist‎^[1], →ISSN:

     For the past decade there were two more or less universally acknowledged truths about digital advertising. First, the rapidly growing industry was largely impervious to the business cycle.

2. Preventive of any penetration; impenetrable, impermeable, particularly of water.

   Although patchworked and sagging, the roof proved impervious to the weather.

3. Immune to damage or effect.

   The old car seemed to be impervious to the wear and tear of age.

Antonyms

• pervious

Derived terms

• imperviously
• imperviousness

Translations

unaffected or unable to be affected by something

• Bulgarian: неуязвим (bg) (neujazvim)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 无动于衷 (zh) (wúdòngyúzhōng), 不受影响的

• Dutch: onvatbaar (nl), ongevoelig (nl),
• French: immunisé (fr), insensible (fr),
• German: gleichgültig (de), unempfindlich (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: megingathatatlan (hu)
• Portuguese: impérvio (pt)
• Romanian: indiferent (ro), insensibil (ro)
• Russian: непроница́емый (ru) (nepronicájemyj), невосприи́мчивый (ru) (nevospriímčivyj), неуязви́мый (ru) (neujazvímyj)
• Spanish: inmune (es)
• Turkish: etkilenmez

preventative of any penetration; impenetrable, impermeable

• Bulgarian: непроницаем (bg) (nepronicaem)
• Dutch: ondoordringbaar (nl), ondoorlaatbaar,
• French: impénétrable (fr), imperméable (fr),
• German: undurchlässig (de)
• Hungarian: áthatolhatatlan (hu)
• Italian: impermeabile (it)
• Japanese: 鉄壁の (teppeki no)
• Maori: pītongatonga
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ugjennomtrengelig

  Nynorsk: ugjennomtrengeleg, ugjennomtrengjeleg

• Portuguese: impenetrável (pt), impérvio (pt)
• Romanian: impenetrabil (ro), impermeabil (ro)
• Russian: непроница́емый (ru) (nepronicájemyj)
• Spanish: impenetrable, impermeable (es)
• Turkish: geçirmez (tr), su geçirmez (tr)

immune to damage or effect

• Bulgarian: неуязвим (bg) (neujazvim)
• Dutch: onkwetsbaar (nl), ongevoelig (nl),
• French: intouchable (fr), insensible (fr),
• German: undurchdringlich (de), undurchdringbar (de)
• Hungarian: ellenálló (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: impérvio (pt)
• Romanian: insensibil (ro)
• Russian: невосприи́мчивый (ru) (nevospriímčivyj), неуязви́мый (ru) (neujazvímyj)
• Spanish: insensible (es), invulnerable (es)
• Turkish: dayanıklı (tr)