impossibilism

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noun

A belief in unrealizable or impractical policies.

Scrabble 21
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Meanings

nounimpossibilism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA belief in unrealizable or impractical policies.
  2. MarxismuncountablegovernmentA socialist doctrine that stresses the limited value of political, economic, and social reforms within a capitalist economy, arguing that the pursuit of such reforms strengthens support for the existing system.
  3. uncountablehuman sciencesThe view that free will does not exist and is simply impossible.

    In the next section I examine five fatalist arguments for impossibilism and show that they all fail, and some for reasons more subtle than is usually thought.

    2013, Kadri Vihvelin, Causes, Laws, and Free Will: Why Determinism Doesn't Matter, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 35

Origin

From impossible + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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