improbable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French improbable, from im- +‎ probable.

Adjective

improbable (comparative more improbable, superlative most improbable)

1. Not likely to be true.

   It's highly improbable that aliens abducted you.

2. Not likely to happen.

   Due to the loss of power, it is improbable that we will begin on time.

Antonyms

• probable

Derived terms

• improbability
• improbably

 

Related terms

• probability
• probably

 

Translations

not likely to be true

• Armenian: անհավանական (hy) (anhavanakan)
• Belarusian: непраўдападо́бны (njepraŭdapadóbny)
• Bulgarian: неправдоподо́бен (bg) (nepravdopodóben)
• Catalan: improbable (ca)
• Czech: nepravděpodobný
• Finnish: epätodennäköinen (fi)
• French: invraisemblable (fr)
• German: unwahrscheinlich (de)
• Greek: απίθανος (el) (apíthanos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: valószínűtlen (hu)
• Japanese: 疑わしい (ja) (utagawashii), 低確率の (teikakuritsu no)
• Polish: nieprawdopododny
• Portuguese: improvável (pt)
• Romanian: improbabil (ro)
• Russian: неправдоподо́бный (ru) (nepravdopodóbnyj)
• Slovak: nepravdepodobný
• Spanish: improbable (es), inverosímil (es)
• Swedish: osannolik (sv)
• Ukrainian: неправдоподі́бний (nepravdopodíbnyj)

not likely to happen

• Armenian: անհավանական (hy) (anhavanakan)
• Belarusian: невераго́дны (njevjerahódny)
• Bulgarian: невероя́тен (bg) (neverojáten)
• Danish: usandsynlig
• Finnish: epätodennäköinen (fi)
• French: improbable (fr)
• Galician: improbable (gl)
• German: unwahrscheinlich (de)
• Greek: απίθανος (el) (apíthanos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: valószínűtlen (hu)
• Japanese: 疑わしい (ja) (utagawashii), 低確率の (teikakuritsu no)
• Portuguese: improvável (pt)
• Russian: невероя́тный (ru) (neverojátnyj)
• Spanish: improbable (es)
• Swedish: osannolik (sv), föga troligt
• Ukrainian: неймові́рний (nejmovírnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} andóch
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} improbabile (it)

See also

• impossible

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Catalan

Adjective

improbable m or f (masculine and feminine plural improbables)

1. improbable, unlikely

   Antonym: probable

Derived terms

• improbablement

Related terms

• improbabilitat

Further reading

• “improbable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “improbable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “improbable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “improbable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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French

Etymology

From im- +‎ probable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pʁɔ.babl/

Adjective

improbable (plural improbables)

1. unlikely, improbable (not likely)

   Synonym: peu probable

Further reading

• “improbable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Galician

Alternative forms

• improbábel

Adjective

improbable m or f (plural improbables)

1. improbable (not likely to happen)

   Antonym: probable

Derived terms

• improbabilidade

Further reading

• “improbable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

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Spanish

Adjective

1. improbable, unlikely

   Antonym: probable

Derived terms

• improbabilidad
• improbablemente

 

Further reading

• “improbable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014