imperceptible

comparative more imperceptible · superlative most imperceptible

1. Not perceptible, not detectable, too small in magnitude to be observed.

   We all missed the imperceptible shake of his head as he tried to warn us without being seen.

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   For this ſtone may have naturally grown into this very ſhape, and the ſeeming aſhes may be no aſhes, that is no remainders of any ſewell burnt there, but ſome unexplicable and imperceptible Motions of the Aire, or other particles of this fluid Matter that is active every where, have wrought ſome parts of the Matter into the form and nature of aſhes, and have fridg’d and plaid about ſo, that they have alſo figured thoſe intelligible Characters in the ſame.

   1653, Henry More, “What Is Meant by Demonstrating There Is a God, and that the Mind of Man, unlesse He Do Violence to His Faculties, Will Fully Assent or Dissent from That Which Notwithstanding May Have a Bare Possibility of Being Otherwise”, in An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC, book I, page 3

   A narrow, almost imperceptible path led them through the thickest of the wood. Two or three times they had to creep under boughs which, but for the ease with which they gave way, would seem never to have admitted a passage before.

   1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 142

   To my unpractised eye, the undulations in the track were quite imperceptible, but the engineer's hand on the throttle was never still.

   1961 July, J. Geoffrey Todd, “Impressions of railroading in the United States: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 425

   Very small benefits may be imperceptible. And it is plausible to claim that an 'imperceptible benefit' is not a benefit.

   1986, Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 75

   Synonyms: imperceivable, undistinguishable, unperceivable · Antonyms: detectable, perceptible

2. Beyond the purview of man; too great and all-encompassing to be perceived.

   Synonyms: cosmic · Antonyms: perceptible

plural imperceptibles

1. Something that is imperceptible.

   The Church assures the faithful that in the Eucharist one imperceptible is changed into another: the mind illumined by faith recognizes the change and says, Here is a miracle, here is something out of the usual course of nature.

   1867 August 3, “Essays on Religion and Literature. By Various Writers. Edited by Archbishop Manning. Second Series. (Longmans & Co.)”, in The Athenæum: Journal of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts, number 2075, London: […] James Holmes, […] John Francis. […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 139, column 1

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   The worm that cauſeth it, is it any thing elſe but one of thoſe little Creatures, that hath deprived it ſelf from all ſocitety, to eſtabliſh it ſelf a Gyant in its own Countrey? If you ask me, VVhy they are bigger then other imperceptibles? I muſt ask you, VVhy Elephants are bigger then we?

   1659, Cyrano [de] Bergerac, translated by Tho[mas] Sᵗ Serf, Σεληναρχια. Or, The Government of the World in the Moon: A Comical History. […], London: […] J[ames] Cottrel, and are to be sold by Hum[phrey] Robinson […], →OCLC, signature K2, verso

   I come next to ſome other ſtrange Acquirements obtained by the helps of theſe Glaſſes; and particularly for the diſcerning the Imperceptibles of Nature; ſuch as, the Soul, Thought, Honeſty, Religion, Virginity, and an Hundred other nice things, too ſmall for humane Diſcerning.

   1705, [Daniel Defoe], The Consolidator: or, Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the Moon. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Bragg […], →OCLC, page 91

   It was a lazy Sunday. What made it meaningful were not the facts or details, but the imperceptibles. Inner life. The smell of the beach grass and the feel of sand on a bathroom floor when changing out of a swimsuit. The heat of American summer.

   2016, Noah Hawley, “Gil Baruch: June 5, 1967–August 26, 2015”, in Before the Fall, London: Hodder, published 2017, →ISBN, page 250