insurmountable

adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,161 of 15,258neutral

Insurmountable means too great an obstacle to get past. An insurmountable problem, seemed insurmountable, not insurmountable.

It is used far more often than it is true, which is why not insurmountable is such a useful reply. It belongs to difficulties rather than to walls, since the literal sense has faded entirely.

Definitions of insurmountable

1adjectiveinsurmountableToo great an obstacle to get past.C1
“With no money and no road, building the school seemed an insurmountable task.”

insurmountable is a quality.

Where it comes from

From in- + surmountable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

insurmountable in the wild

If the cadet chooses to attempt a rescue, an insurmountable enemy force attacks their vessel.
Kobayashi Maru
Board chairman Winifred Gray and president Gregory Bulger cited "an insurmountable budget deficit" as the reason.
Opera Boston
Often, this is also spurred by broken sidewalks, which pose a safety hazard for pedestrians and potentially insurmountable obstacles for wheelchair users.
Beautification
Several attempts to cross the strait swimming have been made, but cold water and currents have usually been insurmountable obstacles.
Kvarken
Founded in 1994 as Vegueta-Universidad, it was dissolved in 2011 due to insurmountable economic problems.
Universidad de Las Palmas CF

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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