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Waterproof vs Impervious - What's the difference?

waterproof | impervious |

As adjectives the difference between waterproof and impervious

is that waterproof is unaffected by water while impervious is unaffected or unable to be affected by.

As a verb waterproof

is to make waterproof or water-resistant.

As a noun waterproof

is a substance or preparation for rendering cloth, leather, etc., impervious to water.

waterproof

English

(wikipedia waterproof)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Unaffected by water.
  • Made of or covered with material that doesn't allow water in.
  • Incapable of failing; unassailable.
  • * 1931 , The British Clay Worker
    • The only waterproof plan and the one increasingly adopted by leading trades is the consolidation of the interests of all parties in a scheme of amalgamation.
  • * 2001 , W. A. M. van Dijk, J. L. Hovens, Netherlands. Koninklijke Marechaussee, Arresting war criminals
    • Especially within an international framework, guarding this process is of the utmost importance. The eyes of the world are focussed on the action at hand and demand a waterproof plan and execution.
  • * 2013 , Barry Davies, Soldier of Fortune Guide to How to Disappear and Never Be Found , Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. (ISBN 9781626365216)
    • Unless you have a 100 percent waterproof plan to defraud insurance companies, I would suggest you don&
  • 39;t do it.

    • See also

    * watertight

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make waterproof or water-resistant.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Yesterday’s fuel , passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).}}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A substance or preparation for rendering cloth, leather, etc., impervious to water.
  • Cloth made waterproof, or any article made of such cloth, or of other waterproof material, as rubber; especially, an outer garment made of such material.
    • ----

    impervious

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Unaffected or unable to be affected by.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=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.}}
  • Preventive of any penetration; impenetrable, impermeable, particularly of water.
  • Immune to damage or effect.

    • Antonyms

    * pervious

    Derived terms

    * imperviously * imperviousness