Inconceivable

Definition: Inconceivable

Inconceivable

Adjective

1. Totally unlikely.

Date "inconceivable" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1637. (references)

Etymology: Inconceivable \In`con*ceiv"a*ble\, adjective. [Prefix in- not conceivable: compare to the French expression inconcevable.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: Inconceivable

Synonyms: impossible (adj), out of the question (adj), unimaginable (adj). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Impossibility	Adjective: impossible; not possible; absurd, contrary to reason; unlikely; unreasonable; incredible; beyond the bounds of reason, beyond the bounds of possibility, beyond the realm of possibility; from which reason recoils; visionary; inconceivable; (improbable); prodigious; (wonderful); unimaginable, inimaginable; unthinkable.
Improbability	Rare; (infrequent); unheard of, inconceivable; unimaginable, inimaginable; incredible; more than doubtful; strange, bizarre (uncomformable).
Size	Immeasurable, unfathomable, unplumbed; inconceivable, unimaginable, unheard-of.
Unbelief Doubt	Doubtful; (uncertain); disputable; unworthy of, undeserving of belief; questionable; suspect, suspicious; open to suspicion, open to doubt; staggering, hard to believe, incredible, unbelievable, not to be believed, inconceivable; impossible.
Unintelligibility	Inconceivable, inconceptible; searchless; above comprehension, beyond comprehension, past comprehension; beyond one's depth; unconceived.
Wonder	Monstrous, prodigious, stupendous, marvelous; inconceivable, incredible; inimaginable, unimaginable; strange; (uncommon); passing strange.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Inconceivable

English words defined with "inconceivable": Inapprehensible, Incogitable, inconceivably, Inconceptible, Inimaginable, Inopinable, Insupposable ♦ The unconditioned ♦ Unconceivable. (references)

Specialty definitions using "inconceivable": Gunpowder ♦ inconceivable event ♦ Parviz'. (references)

Etymologies containing "inconceivable": Inconceptible, Inimaginable ♦ Unconceivable. (references)

Domain

Usage

Screenplays

As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable! No one in Guilder knows what we've done, and no one in Florin could have gotten here so fast. (The Princess Bride; writing credit: William Goldman)

You have to work out whether your roots are become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. (Captain Corelli's Mandolin; writing credit: Shawn Slovo)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Africa Par Adventure: Over 100 Tales, Insights and Observations of the Inconceivable (reference) Artists Confronting the Inconceivable (reference) Inconceivable (reference) INCONCEIVABLE [DOWNLOAD: ADOBE READER] (reference) Inconceivable Conceptions: Psychological Aspects of Infertility and Reproductive Technology (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Inconceivable (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Inconceivable!!! (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Andre Maurois	A marriage without conflict is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crises.
Ralph Waldo Emerson	How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew.
W. S. Gilbert	My family pride is something inconceivable. I can't help it. I was born sneering.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Les Miserables	Hugo, Victor	The Inconceivable outlines itself a few steps from you with a spectral clearness.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	GUNPOWDER, n. An agency employed by civilized nations for the settlement of disputes which might become troublesome if left unadjusted. By most writers the invention of gunpowder is ascribed to the Chinese, but not upon very convincing evidence. Milton says it was invented by the devil to dispel angels with, and this opinion seems to derive some support from the scarcity of angels. Moreover, it has the hearty concurrence of the Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. Secretary Wilson became interested in gunpowder through an event that occurred on the Government experimental farm in the District of Columbia. One day, several years ago, a rogue imperfectly reverent of the Secretary's profound attainments and personal character presented him with a sack of gunpowder, representing it as the sed of the Flashawful flabbergastor, a Patagonian cereal of great commercial value, admirably adapted to this climate. The good Secretary was instructed to spill it along in a furrow and afterward inhume it with soil. This he at once proceeded to do, and had made a continuous line of it all the way across a ten-acre field, when he was made to look backward by a shout from the generous donor, who at once dropped a lighted match into the furrow at the starting-point. Contact with the earth had somewhat dampened the powder, but the startled functionary saw himself pursued by a tall moving pillar of fire and smoke and fierce evolution. He stood for a moment paralyzed and speechless, then he recollected an engagement and, dropping all, absented himself thence with such surprising celerity that to the eyes of spectators along the route selected he appeared like a long, dim streak prolonging itself with inconceivable rapidity through seven villages, and audibly refusing to be comforted. "Great Scott! what is that?" cried a surveyor's chainman, shading his eyes and gazing at the fading line of agriculturist which bisected his visible horizon. "That," said the surveyor, carelessly glancing at the phenomenon and again centering his attention upon his instrument, "is the Meridian of Washington." H
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Inconceivable" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 98.84% of the time. "Inconceivable" is used about 259 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)	98.84%	256	18,500
Noun (proper)	1.16%	3	202,518
Total	100.00%	259	N/A

Expression using "inconceivable": inconceivable event. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "inconceivable"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		i papërfytyrueshëm (unimaginable, unthinkable), i pabesueshëm (anecdotic, fabulous, incredible, unbelievable, unreal), i jashtëzakonshëm (egregious, emergency, exceeding, exceptional, exceptive, exclusive, extraordinary, heroic, incredible, marvellous, marvelous, phenomenal, powerful, prodigious, sole, stupendous, terrible, thumping, transcendent, transcendental, uncommon, unthinkable, unusual, wonderful). (various references)

Arabic		‏لا يتصور (unthinkable), ‏لا يتخيل, ‏لا يصدق (discredit, incredible, unbelievable, unthinkable). (various references)

Bulgarian		невъобразим (impossible, portentous, undreamed of, unimaginable, unthinkable, unutterable), немислим (unthinkable), знаменит (celebrated, cunning, famous, glorious, gone, great, illustrious, lustrous, prominent, proud, reputed, rousing, terrific). (various references)

Chinese		不可思議 (unimaginable), 不可思议. (various references)

Czech		nepředstavitelný (undreamed of, undreamt of, unimaginable, unimaginative), nemyslitelný (unimaginable, unthinkable). (various references)

Danish		uforudsigelig hændelse (inconceivable event). (various references)

Dutch		ondoorgrondelýk (abysmal, incomprehensible, unintelligible), onbegrýpelýk (incomprehensible, unintelligible). (various references)

Esperanto		nekomprenebla (unintelligible). (various references)

Faeroese		ófatiligur (incomprehensible, unintelligible). (various references)

Farsi		غیرقابل ادراک , تصورنکردنی , باورنکردنی (Incredible, Unbelievable). (various references)

Finnish		käsittämätön (incomprehensible, unintelligible). (various references)

French		inconcevable (incomprehensible), abracadabrant (incomprehensible). (various references)

German		unvorstellbar (inconceivably, unimaginable, unimaginably, unthinkable, unthought of), unfassbar (incomprehensible, incomprehensibly, inconceivably, intangible, unknowable), undenkbar (inconceivably, unthinkable, unthinkably, unthought of), unbegreiflich (incomprehensible, incomprehensibly, incomprehensive, inconceivably, inscrutable, unknowable). (various references)

Greek		ακατάληπτοσ (unintelligible), ακατανόητοσ (incomprehensible), ασύλληπτοσ (at large, uncaught), αδιανόητοσ (undreamed, unthinkable). (various references)

Hebrew		שאין ל�"עלות על �"�"עת (unthinkable). (various references)

Hungarian		felfoghatatlan (beyond one's depth, inapprehensible, inexplicable, intangible, uncomprehending), elképzelhetetlen (out of the question, unconceivable, unimaginable, unthinkable, wondrous). (various references)

Indonesian		tak dapat dibayangkan. (various references)

Italian		inconcepibile. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		思いも寄らない (unexpected, unforeseen). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		おもいもよらない (unexpected, unforeseen). (various references)

Korean		불가지한. (various references)

Manx		neuheiltynagh. (various references)

Norwegian		ufattelig. (various references)

Papiamen		inkomprendibel (incomprehensible, unintelligible). (various references)

Pig Latin		inconceivableay

Portuguese		incalculável (incalculable, inestimable, invaluable, odd, uncounted, untold). (various references)

Romanian		inimaginabil (undreamed of, unimaginable), de necrezut (fabulous, incredible, marvellous, tall, unbelievable, unimaginable), de neconceput. (various references)

Russian		непостижимый (fathomless, hairy, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, inknowable, inscrutable, intangible, mysterious, numinous, unapproachable, unknowable, unsearchable). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		nezamisliv (undreamed of, unimaginable, unthinkable), neshvatljiv (impalpable, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, unfathomable), nedokučiv (fathomless, unfathomable, unreachable). (various references)

Spanish		inconcebible (incredible, unthinkable). (various references)

Swedish		ofattlig (incomprehensible, unintelligible), obegriplig (impenetrable, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, unintelligible). (various references)

Turkish		inanılmaz (beyond belief, fabulous, fantastic, fantastical, implausible, incredible, steep, stiff, unbelievable, unheard of, unreliable), kavranılamaz, anlaşılmaz (bottomless, clear as mud, complicated, deep, delphic, elusive, elusory, fathomless, impenetrable, inapprehensible, inarticulate, incomprehensible, inexplicable, inscrutable, intangible, obscure, occult, opaque, oracular, perplexed, puzzling, recondite, sphinxlike, unaccountable, uncanny, unintelligible, vague, weird), akıl almaz (imagination boggles at the thought, incomprehensible, incredible, numinous, preposterous, unbelievable, unreasonable, unreasoning). (various references)

Ukranian		нерозумілий (delphic, incomprehensible). (various references)

Vietnamese		phi thường (hyperphysical, marvellous, miraculous, phenomenal, prodigious, remarkable, slashing, superhuman, uncommon, unimaginable), không thể nhận thức được; không thể tưởng tượng được kỳ lạ, không thể hiểu được (incognizable, unintelligible). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "inconceivable": inconceivableness, inconceivablenesses. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Inconceivable" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: inconcevable, inconcievable, inconcivable, inconveivable, invonceivable. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "inconceivable" (pronounced i'nkunsē"vubul)
10	-k u n s ē" v u b u l	conceivable.
7	-s ē" v u b u l	receivable.
6	-ē" v u b u l	achievable, believable, unbelievable.
5	-v u b u l	approvable, drivable, forgivable, immovable, livable, lovable, microwavable, movable, observable, provable, removable, solvable, survivable, unforgivable, unlivable, unsolvable.
4	-u b u l	abominable, acceptable, accessible, accountable, actionable, adaptable, addressable, adjustable, admirable, admissible, adoptable, adorable, advisable, affable, affordable, agreeable, allowable, amenable, amendable, amiable, amicable, analyzable, answerable, appealable, applicable, appreciable, approachable, arable, arguable, attainable, attributable, audible, available, avoidable, bankable, bearable, billable, biodegradable, breakable, buildable, burnable, callable, cannibal, capable, changeable, chargeable, charitable, classifiable, collapsible, collectible, Combinable, comfortable, commendable, communicable, comparable, compatible, compensable, comprehensible, confirmable, considerable, constable, consumable, contemptible, contestable, controllable, convertible, copyrightable, countable, credible, creditable, crucible, culpable, curable, debatable, deductible, defensible, definable, degradable, delectable, deliverable, demonstrable, dependable, deplorable, deployable, depreciable, describable, desirable, despicable, detachable, detectable, determinable, developable, digestible, disagreeable, discernible, discountable, discoverable, dishonorable, dispensable, disposable, disreputable, distinguishable, divisible, doable, drinkable, durable, eatable, edible, electable, eligible, Embraceable, employable, enforceable, enjoyable, enviable, equable, equitable, erasable, erodible, estimable, exchangeable, excitable, excludable, excusable, execrable, exercisable, expandable, expendable, explainable, exportable, extendable, extendible, fallible, fashionable, fathomable, favorable, feasible, fissionable, fixable, flammable, flexible, forcible, foreseeable, forfeitable, forgettable, formidable, fungible, fusible, gullible, habitable, harvestable, heritable, hon, honorable, horrible, hospitable, identifiable, illegible, imaginable, imitable, immiscible, immutable, impassable, impeachable, impeccable, impenetrable, imperceptible, impermissible, implacable, implantable, implausible, imponderable, impossible, impracticable, impregnable, impressionable, improbable, inaccessible, inadmissible, inadvisable, inalienable, inapplicable, inaudible, incalculable, incapable, incomparable, incompatible, incomprehensible, incompressible, incontrovertible, incorrigible, incredible, incurable, indefatigable, indefensible, indefinable, indelible, indescribable, indestructible, indispensable, indisputable, indistinguishable, indivisible, indomitable, inedible, ineffable, ineligible, inequitable, inescapable, inevitable, inexcusable, inexhaustible, inexorable, inexplicable, infallible, infeasible, inflammable, inflatable, inflexible, inheritable, inhospitable, inimitable, injectable, innumerable, inoperable, insatiable, inscrutable, inseparable, insoluble, insufferable, insupportable, insurmountable, intangible, intelligible, interchangeable, interminable, interruptible, intolerable, intractable, invaluable, investable, invincible, inviolable, invisible, invulnerable, irascible, irreconcilable, irrefutable, irremediable, irreparable, irreplaceable, irrepressible, irresistible, irresponsible, irreversible, irrevocable, irritable, issuable, justifiable, knowledgeable, lamentable, laudable, laughable, leasable, legible, liable, likable, likeable, malleable, manageable, mandible, maneuverable, marketable, measurable, memorable, miscible, miserable, moldable, navigable, negligible, negotiable, noncallable, nonconvertible, nondeductible, nondurable, nonrefundable, nonrenewable, nontaxable, nontransferable, notable, noticeable, objectionable, obtainable, operable, ostensible, palatable, palpable, parable, passable, patentable, payable, peaceable, perceptible, perishable, permeable, permissible, personable, persuadable, pitiable, plausible, pleasurable, pliable, portable, possible, potable, practicable, predictable, preferable, presentable, preventable, printable, probable, profitable, programmable, prosecutable, punishable, questionable, quotable, reachable, readable, realizable, reasonable, rechargeable, recognizable, recordable, recoverable, recyclable, redeemable, redoubtable, reducible, refundable, regrettable, reliable, remarkable, renewable, rentable, repairable, repayable, repeatable, replaceable, reportable, reprehensible, reputable, resealable, resettable, respectable, responsible, retractable, returnable, reusable, reversible, revocable, ridable, salable, saleable, salvageable, seasonable, sensible, serviceable, sizable, sizeable, sociable, soluble, spendable, submersible, suggestible, suitable, supportable, susceptible, sustainable, syllable, talkable, tangible, taxable, teachable, tenable, terrible, tolerable, traceable, tractable, tradable, tradeable, trainable, transferable, transferrable, transmittable, transportable, treatable, tunable, typeable, unacceptable, unaccountable, unaffordable, unalienable, unalterable, unanswerable, unassailable, unattainable, unavailable, unavoidable, unbearable, unbeatable, unbuildable, uncollectible, uncomfortable, unconscionable, uncontrollable, undeniable, understandable, undesirable, undetectable, unelectable, unemployable, unenforceable, unenviable, unexplainable, unfashionable, unfathomable, unfavorable, unfeasible, unflappable, unforeseeable, unforgettable, ungovernable, unimaginable, unimpeachable, uninhabitable, uninsurable, unintelligible, unjustifiable, unknowable, unmanageable, unmentionable, unmistakable, unobtainable, unpalatable, unpredictable, unprintable, unprofitable, unquestionable, unreachable, unreadable, unreasonable, unrecognizable, unreliable, unremarkable, unsalable, unshakable, unsinkable, unspeakable, unstoppable, unsuitable, unsupportable, unsustainable, untenable, unthinkable, untouchable, untraceable, unusable, unverifiable, unwinnable, unworkable, usable, variable, vegetable, venerable, verifiable, veritable, viable, visible, voluble, vulnerable, washable, wearable, winnable, workable.
3	-b u l	able, amble, assemble, babble, Babel, bauble, bible, bramble, bubble, Bumble, cable, cobble, coble, corbel, crumble, cymbal, dabble, Dibble, disable, disassemble, dissemble, double, Drabble, dribble, enable, enfeeble, ennoble, ensemble, fable, feeble, foible, fumble, gable, gamble, Garble, global, gobble, Gribble, grumble, hardscrabble, herbal, hobble, humble, ignoble, immeasurable, immobile, intertribal, jumble, kibble, label, libel, marble, mislabel, mobile, mumble, nibble, nimble, noble, nonverbal, pebble, preamble, psychobabble, quibble, rabble, ramble, reassemble, rebel, redouble, relabel, resemble, Roble, rouble, roundtable, rubble, Ruble, rumble, sable, Scrabble, scramble, scribble, shamble, Sibyl, squabble, Stabile, stable, stubble, stumble, symbol, table, thimble, timetable, treble, tremble, tribal, trouble, tubal, tumble, turntable, umbel, unable, unscramble, unserviceable, unstable, valuable, verbal, wamble, wobble.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-b-c-c-e-e-i-i-l-n-n-o-v"
	-2 letters: conceivable.
	-4 letters: biconcave, covalence, evincible, nonviable, vicennial.
	-5 letters: biennale, biennial, binnacle, bioclean, coinable, colicine, conceive, conclave, convince, enviable, evocable, iconical, inviable, libeccio, vaccinee, vincible, violence, volcanic.
	Words containing the letters "a-b-c-c-e-e-i-i-l-n-n-o-v"
	+4 letters: inconceivableness.
	+5 letters: inconceivabilities.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.