insurmountable

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adjective

Incapable of being passed over, surmounted, or overcome; insuperable

“Getting everybody to agree proved to be an insurmountable difficulty.”

Similar
unsurmountableinsuperableunconquerable
Opposite
surmountable
OriginEnglish surmountable ← Middle English surmounten ← Old French sormonter →
Less commonScrabble 18
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Meanings

adjectiveinsurmountable (comparative more insurmountable, superlative most insurmountable)

comparative more insurmountable · superlative most insurmountable

  1. Incapable of being passed over, surmounted, or overcome; insuperable

    Getting everybody to agree proved to be an insurmountable difficulty.

    1 more example

    Overcoming Japan’s demographic crisis has proved insurmountable for occupants of the Kantei – the prime minister’s office – long before Kishida moved in last autumn.

    2023 January 24, Justin McCurry, “Japan PM’s solution to dire birthrate has already been rejected by young”, in The Guardian

    Synonyms: unsurmountable · Antonyms: surmountable

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveIncapable of being passed over, surmounted, or overcome; insuperable

Similar
unsurmountable
Opposite
surmountable

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivenot capable of being surmounted or overcome

Similar
unsurmountableinsuperableunconquerable
Opposite
surmountable

adjectiveimpossible to surmount

Similar
insuperableunconquerable
Also see
adamantineindomitableinsuperableunconquerableundefeatableunovercomeableunsurmountable

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Middle Englishin-
  6. Englishin-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  8. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  9. Proto-Italic*super
  10. Latinsuper
  11. Latinsuper-
  12. Old Frenchsur-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*móntis
  15. Proto-Italic*monts
  16. Latinmōns
  17. Vulgar Latin*montāre
  18. Old Frenchmonter
  19. Old Frenchsormonter
  20. Middle Englishsurmounten
  21. Englishsurmount
  22. Englishsurmountable
  23. Englishinsurmountable

From in- + surmountable.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian непреодоли́м
  • непреодоли́м (nepreodolím)incapable of being passed over
Catalan insuperable
  • insuperableincapable of being passed over
Chinese Mandarin 無法克服的 /无法克服的
  • 無法克服的 /无法克服的 (wúfǎ kèfú de)incapable of being passed over
Czech nepřekonatelný
  • nepřekonatelnýincapable of being passed over
Dutch onoverkomelijk
  • onoverkomelijkincapable of being passed over
Finnish ylipääsemätön, ylitsepääsemätön
  • ylipääsemätönincapable of being passed over
  • ylitsepääsemätönincapable of being passed over
French insurmontable, infranchissable
  • insurmontableincapable of being passed over
  • infranchissableincapable of being passed over
  • impassableincapable of being passed over
German unüberwindlich, unüberwindbar
  • unüberwindlichincapable of being passed over
  • unüberwindbarincapable of being passed over
Greek ανυπέρβλητος, αξεπέραστος
  • ανυπέρβλητος (anypérvlitos)incapable of being passed over
  • αξεπέραστος (axepérastos)incapable of being passed over
Hungarian leküzdhetetlen, legyőzhetetlen
  • leküzdhetetlenincapable of being passed over
  • legyőzhetetlenincapable of being passed over
  • áthághatatlanincapable of being passed over
  • áthidalhatatlanincapable of being passed over
Irish dochloíte, dosháraithe
  • dochloíteincapable of being passed over
  • dosháraitheincapable of being passed over
Latin inēluctābilis, insuperābilis
  • inēluctābilisincapable of being passed over
  • insuperābilisincapable of being passed over
Norwegian Bokmål uoverstigelig
  • uoverstigeligincapable of being passed over
Polish nieprzezwyciężony, nie do pokonania
  • nieprzezwyciężonyincapable of being passed over
  • nie do pokonaniaincapable of being passed over
Portuguese insuperável, inexorável
  • insuperávelincapable of being passed over
  • inexorávelincapable of being passed over
Romanian insurmontabil
  • insurmontabilincapable of being passed over
Russian непреодоли́мый, неодоли́мый
  • непреодоли́мый (nepreodolímyj)incapable of being passed over
  • неодоли́мый (neodolímyj)incapable of being passed over
Spanish insalvable, insuperable
  • insalvableincapable of being passed over
  • insuperableincapable of being passed over
  • infranqueableincapable of being passed over
Swedish oöverstiglig
  • oöverstigligincapable of being passed over
Turkish aşılamaz
  • aşılamazincapable of being passed over
Ukrainian неперебо́рний, непобо́рний
  • неперебо́рний (neperebórnyj)incapable of being passed over
  • непобо́рний (nepobórnyj)incapable of being passed over
  • непобори́мий (nepoborýmyj)incapable of being passed over
  • незбори́мий (nezborýmyj)incapable of being passed over
  • незбо́рний (nezbórnyj)incapable of being passed over
  • нездола́нний (nezdolánnyj)incapable of being passed over
  • неперемо́жний (neperemóžnyj)incapable of being passed over
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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