impervious


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Related to impervious: impervious soil

im·per·vi·ous

 (ĭm-pûr′vē-əs)
adj.
1. Incapable of being penetrated: a material impervious to water.
2. Incapable of being affected: impervious to fear.

[From Latin impervius : in-, not; see in-1 + pervius, pervious; see pervious.]

im·per′vi·ous·ly adv.
im·per′vi·ous·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

impervious

(ɪmˈpɜːvɪəs) (ɪmˈpɜːvɪəbəl) or

imperviable

adj
1. not able to be penetrated, as by water, light, etc; impermeable
2. (foll by: to) not able to be influenced (by) or not receptive (to): impervious to argument.
imˈperviously adv
imˈperviousness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

im•per•vi•ous

(ɪmˈpɜr vi əs)

adj.
1. not permitting penetration or passage: The pelt is impervious to rain.
2. incapable of being injured or impaired: impervious to wear and tear.
3. incapable of being influenced or affected: impervious to reason.
[1640–50; < Latin impervius; see im-2, pervious]
im•per′vi•ous•ly, adv.
im•per′vi•ous•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.impervious - not admitting of passage or capable of being affected; "a material impervious to water"; "someone impervious to argument"
impermeable - preventing especially liquids to pass or diffuse through; "impermeable stone"; "an impermeable layer of scum"; "a coat impermeable to rain"
pervious - admitting of passage or entrance; "pervious soil"; "a metal pervious to heat"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

impervious

adjective (with to)
1. unaffected by, immune to, unmoved by, closed to, untouched by, proof against, invulnerable to, unreceptive to, unswayable by They are impervious to all suggestion of change.
2. resistant to, sealed to, impenetrable by, invulnerable to, impassable to, hermetic to, impermeable by, imperviable by The floorcovering will need to be impervious to water.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

impervious

adjective
Having the capacity to withstand:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

impervious

[ɪmˈpɜːvɪəs] ADJ
1. (lit) (to water) → impermeable (to a)
2. (fig) (to remarks, threats) → inmune, insensible (to a) he is impervious to criticismes inmune or insensible a las críticas, no le afectan las críticas
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

impervious

[ɪmˈpɜːrviəs] adj
[person] to be impervious to sth [+ criticism, pressure, charm] → être insensible à qch
[substance] (to water)imperméable
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

impervious

adj
substance, rockundurchlässig; impervious to rain/waterregen-/wasserundurchlässig; coat, materialregen-/wasserdicht
(fig)unzugänglich (to für); (to criticism) → unberührt (to von); he is impervious to logicihm ist mit Logik nicht beizukommen; she is impervious to pressuresie lässt sich nicht unter Druck setzen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

impervious

[ɪmˈpɜːvɪəs] adj impervious (to)impermeabile (a) (fig) → indifferente (a), imperturbato/a (di fronte a)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
But she did not want to appear unamiable and uninterested, so she had brought forth newspapers, which she spread upon the floor of the gallery, and under Madame Ratignolle's directions she had cut a pattern of the impervious garment.
I apologized; but he continued scornfully, "Since you are impervious to argument, you shall hear with your ears how by means of my two voices I reveal my shape to my Wives, who are at this moment six thousand miles seventy yards two feet eight inches away, the one to the North, the other to the South.
I began to occupy my house on the 4th of July, as soon as it was boarded and roofed, for the boards were carefully feather-edged and lapped, so that it was perfectly impervious to rain, but before boarding I laid the foundation of a chimney at one end, bringing two cartloads of stones up the hill from the pond in my arms.
In submarine works, the workman, clad in an impervious dress, with his head in a metal helmet, receives air from above by means of forcing pumps and regulators."
Diving-dresses were also prepared, which through this impervious covering allowed the divers to observe the bottom of the sea.
Before, dark and opaque bodies had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid.
They swarmed numerous like locusts, industrious like ants, thoughtless like a natural force, pushing on blind and orderly and absorbed, impervious to sentiment, to logic, to terror too perhaps.
A wide and apparently an impervious boundary of forests severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of France and England.
The sea, knowing what was required of her, threw over them her weeds, encircled them with coral, and encrusted them with shells; the whole was cemented by two hundred years beneath these almost impervious depths, for a revolution carried away the emperor who wished to make the trial, and only left the documents proving the manufacture of the jars and their descent into the sea.
We were surprised that, after moving as far as we had along the valley, we should still meet with the same impervious thickets; and thinking, that although the borders of the stream might be lined for some distance with them, yet beyond there might be more open ground, I requested Toby to keep a bright look-out upon one side, while I did the same on the other, in order to discover some opening in the bushes, and especially to watch for the slightest appearance of a path or anything else that might indicate the vicinity of the islanders.
Neither had they the impervious skins which seem the rule in the fine world that wants only to get on.
He was an elderly man, with a white beard and a florid complexion, who had painted a number of decorations for the State, but these were an object of derision to the students he instructed: he was a disciple of Ingres, impervious to the progress of art and angrily impatient with that tas de farceurs whose names were Manet, Degas, Monet, and Sisley; but he was an excellent teacher, helpful, polite, and encouraging.