impasse

English

Etymology

[1851] Borrowing from French impasse, from in- + passer.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæmpɑːs/, /æmˈpɑːs/, /ˈɪmpɑːs/, /ɪmˈpɑːs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpæs/, /ɪmˈpæs/

Noun

Wikipedia

impasse ‎(plural impasses)

1. a road with no exit; a cul-de-sac
2. a deadlock or stalemate situation in which no progress can be made
   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XIV:

     “It seems to me the thing's an impasse. French expression,” I explained, “meaning that we're stymied good and proper with no hope of finding a formula.”

   • 2010, Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

     "Young man, this town is at a bit of an impasse. If you have any suggestion that might help, now would be the time to voice it."

Translations

a road with no exit; a cul-de-sac

• Catalan: cul-de-sac (ca) m, atzucac (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 僵局 (zh) ‎(jiāngjú), 末路 (zh) ‎(mòlù)

• Danish: blindgyde (da) c
• Finnish: umpikuja (fi)
• French: impasse (fr) f
• German: Sackgasse (de) f
• Greek: αδιέξοδο (el) n ‎(adiéxodo)
• Hungarian: zsákutca (hu)
• Japanese: 行き詰まり ‎(いきづまり, ikidzumari), 行き止まり ‎(いきどまり, ikidomari), 袋小路 ‎(ふくろこうじ, fukurokōji)

• Norwegian: blindvei (no)
• Polish: ślepa uliczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: rua sem saída (pt) f, (fig.) impasse m
• Russian: тупи́к (ru) m ‎(tupík)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: слепа улица f, слијепа улица f

  Roman: slepa ulica f, slijepa ulica f

• Swedish: återvändsgränd (sv)
• Turkish: çıkmaz sokak (tr)

a deadlock or stalemate situation in which no progress can be made

• Catalan: cul-de-sac (ca) m, atzucac (ca) m
• Finnish: umpikuja (fi)
• German: Patt (de) n, Hängepartie (de) f, Sackgasse (de) f, Pattsituation f, gegenseitige Blockade f, festgefahrene Situation f, ausweglose Situtation f
• Hungarian: zsákutca (hu)
• Maori: whakamāraritanga
• Polish: impas (pl) m, zastój m, matnia (pl) f
• Portuguese: impasse

• Russian: тупи́к (ru) m ‎(tupík)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ћорсокак m

  Roman: ćorsokak (sh) m

• Swedish: dödläge, död punkt

External links

• impasse at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• pessima

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French

Etymology

From im- +‎ passe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pɑs/

• audio (France)

  (file)

Noun

impasse f ‎(plural impasses)

1. stalemate, impasse (situation in which no progress can be made; not used in the chess sense of stalemate)
2. dead-end; cul-de-sac (street)

External links

• “impasse” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Italian

Noun

impasse f ‎(invariable)

1. impasse, dead-end, deadlock, stalemate

Synonyms

• stallo

Anagrams

• pessima

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from French impasse.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.ˈpa.si/

Noun

impasse m (plural impasses)

1. impasse (a situation in which no progress can be made)

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Spanish

Alternative forms

• impás

Noun

impasse m ‎(plural impasses)

1. impasse