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Plausible vs Impossible - What's the difference?

plausible | impossible |

As adjectives the difference between plausible and impossible

is that plausible is seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; credible: a plausible excuse while impossible is not possible; not able to be done or happen.

As a noun impossible is

{{cx|obsolete|lang=en}} an impossibility.

plausible

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; credible: a plausible excuse.
  • *
  • In short, the twin assumptions that syntactic rules are category-based, and that there are a highly restricted finite set of categories in any natural language (perhaps no more than a dozen major categories), together with the assumption that the child either knows'' (innately) or ''learns (by experience) that all rules are structure-dependent ( =category-based), provide a highly plausible model of language acquisition, in which languages become learnable in a relatively short, finite period of time (a few years).
  • Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious.
  • a plausible''' pretext; '''plausible''' manners; a '''plausible delusion
  • Using specious arguments or discourse. (rfv-sense)
  • a plausible speaker
  • (obsolete) Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready.
  • (Bishop Hacket)

    Derived terms

    * plausibility

    impossible

    English

    Alternative forms

    * inpossible (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
  • * 1865 , (Lewis Carroll), (w, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
  • Nothing is impossible , only impassible.
  • * 13 March 1962 ,
  • Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= 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.}}
  • (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.
  • (math, dated) imaginary
  • impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers

    Synonyms

    * (l) (rare)

    Antonyms

    * (not able to be done or happen) possible, inevitable

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • an impossibility
  • * Late 14th century': “Madame,” quod he, “this were an '''impossible !” — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, ''Canterbury Tales
  • Statistics

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