insuperable

Advancedzipf 1.90

Pronunciation

/ɪnˈsuːpərəbəl/(in-SOO-puh-ruh-bul)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

不可逾越的；无法克服的

Definition

Impossible to overcome; insurmountable.

Word family

  • insuperably/ɪnˈsuːpərəbli/(adv)不可逾越地

Collocations

  • insuperable obstacle
  • insuperable difficulty
  • insuperable barrier
  • insuperable odds

Examples

  1. 1.The language barrier proved insuperable — they simply couldn't communicate effectively. (impossible to overcome)
  2. 2.What seemed like insuperable problems a decade ago have since been solved by technology. (insurmountable)

Synonyms

  • insurmountable/ˌɪnsəˈmaʊntəbəl/— impossible to get over
  • invincible/ɪnˈvɪnsɪbəl/— unbeatable
  • unconquerable/ʌnˈkɒŋkərəbəl/— cannot be defeated

Etymology

from Latin "insuperabilis" — in- (not) + superare (to overcome) — "super" = above — not able to be gotten above