impracticable

(ĭm-prăk'tĭ-kə-bəl)
adj.

1. Impossible to do or carry out: Refloating the sunken ship intact proved impracticable because of its fragility.
2. Unfit for passage: roads impracticable in winter.
3. Archaic. Unmanageable; intractable.

impracticability im·prac'ti·ca·bil'i·ty or im·prac'ti·ca·ble·ness n.
impracticably im·prac'ti·ca·bly adv.

USAGE NOTE   The adjective impracticable applies to a course of action that is impossible to carry out or put into practice; impractical, though it can be used in this way, also can be weaker in sense, suggesting that the course of action would yield an insufficient return or would have little practical value. A plan for a new stadium may be rejected as impracticable if the site is too marshy to permit safe construction, but if the objection is that the site is too remote for patrons to attend games easily, the plan is better described as impractical. See Usage Notes at practicable.

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These two words have related meanings to do with the impossibility of doing something, and correspond to the positive forms practicable, practical. Impractical is a relatively recent (19th century) word and means the same as unpractical, i.e. 'not practical or realistic'; it can also be used of a person, with the meaning 'lacking the ability to do practical things', and usually has a general application. Impracticable means 'not able to be carried out, not feasible', and is more usually applied to particular cases. In practice, however, the two words are close enough in meaning to run the frequent risk of getting in each other's way:

As his arms were full of books it would have been impracticable for him to wave—J. I. M. Stewart, 1974

I have always been ridiculously impractical...I cannot repair a fuse—F. Howerd, 1974

Her plans were so impractical that someone like me was necessary to point this out—Anita Brookner, 1987

It would be impracticable to provide full-time security in cemeteries—Birmingham Post, 2003

If she lost her licence it would have a catastrophic effect....It would be totally impractical for her to use public transport—Essex Chronicle, 2007.

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adjective

1. Not capable of happening or being done: impossible, impractical, unattainable, unrealizable, unthinkable, unworkable. Idioms: out of the question. See possible/impossible.
2. Incapable of being used or availed of to advantage: impractical, unnegotiable, unserviceable, unusable, unworkable, useless. See used/unused.

adj

Definition: unworkable
Antonyms: feasible, workable

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - umulig, uigennemførlig, umedgørlig, ugørlig

Nederlands (Dutch)
onuitvoerbaar, onpraktisch, onbegaanbaar

Français (French)
adj. - impraticable

Deutsch (German)
adj. - unanwendbar, undurchführbar, widerspenstig

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - ανέφικτος, ακατόρθωτος, απραγματοποίητος, ανεφάρμοστος, ανεδαφικός

Italiano (Italian)
intrattabile, inattuabile

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - impraticável

Русский (Russian)
невыполнимый, упрямый, непроходимый, бесполезный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - impracticable, irrealizable

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - ogenomförbar, oanvändbar, oframkomlig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
不能实施的, 做不到的, 难办的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 不能實施的, 做不到的, 難辦的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 실행 불가능한, 다룰 수 없는, 다닐 수 없는

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 実行不可能な, 通行できない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) غير عملي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮לא-מעשי, לא-ישים‬

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