What is the difference between impossible and possible?
impossible | possible |
Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
* 1865 , (Lewis Carroll), (w, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
* 13 March 1962 ,
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.
(math, dated) imaginary
an impossibility
* Late 14th century': “Madame,” quod he, “this were an '''impossible !” — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, ''Canterbury Tales
(usually, not comparable) Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
(comparable) Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.
* {{quote-book, 1901, Louis Freeland Smith, The Public, volume=4, page=438, pageurl=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000080738168&page=search;seq=444;view=image;num=438
, passage=And success in minor degree, in the sense in which he uses the term "success," is only somewhat more possible than success in winning the White House chair.}}
* {{quote-news, 1993, September 10, Lee Michael Katz, Expectant Mideast hopes to bear twin peace deals, USA Today, page=2A
, passage=Peace between Israel and the Arab countries is "more possible than any time before," says ex-Arab League U.N. ambassador Clovis Maskoud. }}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Being considered, e.g. for a position.
A possible one
(colloquial, rare) A possible choice, notably someone being considered for a position.
(rare) A particular event that may happen.
Possible is a antonym of impossible.
As adjectives the difference between impossible and possible
is that impossible is not possible; not able to be done or happen while possible is able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.As nouns the difference between impossible and possible
is that impossible is {{cx|obsolete|lang=en}} an impossibility while possible is a possible one.impossible
English
Alternative forms
* inpossible (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- Nothing is impossible , only impassible.
- Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
Our banks are out of control, passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible , there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}
- impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers
Synonyms
* (l) (rare)Antonyms
* (not able to be done or happen) possible, inevitableNoun
(en noun)Statistics
* ----possible
English
Adjective
(en-adj)citation
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible . Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
Derived terms
* as much as possible * ASAP (as soon as possible) * possiblyAntonyms
* (able but not certain to happen) certain, inevitable, impossible * (capable of being done) impossibleNoun
(en noun)- Jones is a possible for the new opening in sales.
