insuperable

English

Etymology

From Latin insuperabilis.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsup(ə)ɹəb(ə)l/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Adjective

insuperable (comparative more insuperable, superlative most insuperable)

1. Impossible to achieve or overcome or be negotiated.
   • 1950 September, “The Southwold Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 578:

     Regular services for passengers and goods were maintained for almost 50 years, but the speed limit of 16 m.p.h., imposed by the Board of Trade, proved an insuperable handicap after the introduction of competitive motor bus services.

   • 2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes‎^[1], page 308:

     While Indian English may not have a uniform standard form throughout the country, this in itself is not an insuperable obstacle for lexicography.

   • 2024 December 10, Ronald Mann, “Case Preview: Federal trademark law and doctrines of corporate identity”, in SCOTUSblog:

     The basic problem before the court on Wednesday is that there is a Supreme Court case pretty closely on point – United States v. Bestfoods – in which the justices rejected the government’s argument that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act was such an important statute that it should create an exception to traditional state-law doctrines that require a high (indeed, all but insuperable) bar for actions seeking to ignore corporate identities and, in the common phrase, “pierce the corporate veil.”

2. Overwhelming or insurmountable.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 4–5:

     For the first time I steadily reviewed the obstacles—and to consider them was at once to see they were insuperable.

Synonyms

• unsuperable

Antonyms

• superable

Derived terms

• insuperableness

Related terms

• insuperability

Translations

Translations

• Bulgarian: непреодолим (bg) (nepreodolim)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無法克服的 / 无法克服的

• Dutch: onoverkomelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: nesuperebla
• French: insurmontable (fr)
• German: unüberwindbar (de), unüberwindlich (de)
• Greek: αξεπέραστος (el) m (axepérastos), ανυπέρβλητος (el) m (anypérvlitos)
• Irish: dosháraithe
• Korean: 극복(克服)할 수 없는 (geukbokhal su eomneun)
• Russian: неодоли́мый (ru) m (neodolímyj)
• Spanish: insuperable

See also

• impassable
• unconquerable

Further reading

• “insuperable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “insuperable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “insuperable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Etymology

From Learned borrowing from Latin īnsuperābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [in.su.pəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.su.peˈɾa.ble]

Adjective

insuperable m or f (masculine and feminine plural insuperables)

1. insuperable

Derived terms

• insuperabilitat

Related terms

• superable

Further reading

• “insuperable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /insupeˈɾable/ [ĩn.su.peˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧su‧pe‧ra‧ble

Adjective

insuperable m or f (masculine and feminine plural insuperables)

1. insuperable

Related terms

• superable

Further reading

• “insuperable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10