impervious

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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(r)viəs

Adjective

impervious (comparative more impervious, superlative most impervious)

1. Unaffected or unable to be affected by.

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

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     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.

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

• 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: megingathatatlan (hu)
• Portuguese: impérvio (pt)
• Romanian: indiferent (ro) m, insensibil (ro) m
• 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), ondoorlaadbaar,
• French: impénétrable (fr), imperméable (fr),
• German: undurchlässig
• 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) m, impermeabil (ro) m, impermeabilă f
• 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) m
• Russian: невосприи́мчивый (ru) (nevospriímčivyj), неуязви́мый (ru) (neujazvímyj)
• Spanish: insensible (es), invulnerable (es)
• Turkish: dayanıklı (tr)