imperceptibly

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adverb

Not noticeably; such that it cannot be detected, through being too small or too fast, etc.

“No one noticed that he had moved imperceptibly backwards.”

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 26

Meanings

adverbimperceptibly (comparative more imperceptibly, superlative most imperceptibly)

comparative more imperceptibly · superlative most imperceptibly

  1. Not noticeably; such that it cannot be detected, through being too small or too fast, etc.

    No one noticed that he had moved imperceptibly backwards.

    3 more examples

    It often happens that the most important results in the natural world are brought about by causes which operate silently, if not imperceptibly.

    1838, William Andrus Alcott, chapter I, in The Young House-keeper: Or, Thoughts on Food and Cookery, third stereotype edition, Boston: George W. Light, page 21

    The moon moved imperceptibly towards setting.

    1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 154

    Which means that at the moment Raven entered her, a very small hypodermic needle slipped imperceptibly into the engorged frontal vein of his penis, automatically shooting a cocktail of powerful narcotics and depressants into his bloodstream.

    1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 358

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbin an imperceptible manner or to an imperceptible degree

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Catalan imperceptiblement
  • imperceptiblementnot noticeably
Dutch onmerkbaar, ongemerkt
  • onmerkbaarnot noticeably
  • ongemerktnot noticeably
Finnish huomaamatta, huomaamattomasti
  • huomaamattanot noticeably
  • huomaamattomastinot noticeably
French imperceptiblement, insensiblement
  • imperceptiblementnot noticeably
  • insensiblementnot noticeably
German unmerklich
  • unmerklichnot noticeably
Polish niezauważalnie
  • niezauważalnienot noticeably
Russian незаме́тно, незначи́тельно
  • незаме́тно (nezamétno)not noticeably
  • незначи́тельно (neznačítelʹno)not noticeably
Spanish imperceptiblemente
  • imperceptiblementenot noticeably
Swedish omärkligt, omärkbart
  • omärkligtnot noticeably
  • omärkbartnot noticeably
Ukrainian непомі́тно
  • непомі́тно (nepomítno)not noticeably
Cite this entry
APA

imperceptibly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imperceptibly

MLA

“imperceptibly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imperceptibly. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imperceptibly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imperceptibly.

Source: imperceptibly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.