单词 | impregnable |
释义 | impregnable (once / 1960 pages) 1adj 2adj When something is impregnable it is not easily taken by force and can stand up to any attack. We usually use it in reference to some form of protection, like a fort or a solid defensive line in football. The genealogy of the adjective impregnable includes the Middle French word prenable, meaning "vulnerable, easily conquered," which itself came from the verb prendre, which meant "to take." The addition of the negative prefix im- flipped the meaning. Impregnable can be used to describe anything that cannot be entered or successfully attacked. Seventeenth-century theater critic Jeremy Collier once said, "True courage is a result of reasoning. A brave mind is always impregnable." WORD FAMILYimpregnable: impregnability, impregnably+/impregnability: impregnabilities/impregnate: impregnable, impregnated, impregnates, impregnating, impregnation/impregnation: impregnations USAGE EXAMPLESAfter all, the Labour Party in Scotland was once an impregnable electoral colossus. BBC(Nov 28, 2016) Mr Maduro’s bargaining position is less impregnable than it looks. Economist(Nov 03, 2016) Donald J. Trump’s proposal to end illegal immigration — to build a supposedly impregnable wall — is a fake solution. New York Times(Oct 25, 2016) 1 1adj immune to attack; incapable of being tampered with an impregnable fortress Syn inviolable, secure, strong, unassailable, unattackable invulnerable immune to attack; impregnable 2adj incapable of being overcome, challenged, or refuted 2an impregnable argument impregnable self-confidence Syn inexpugnable unconquerable not capable of being conquered or vanquished or overcome adj capable of conceiving Syn conceptive fertile capable of reproducing |
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