impasse

Language: en

🇬🇧 /æˈmpɑːs/ 🇺🇸 /ˌɪˈmpæs/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A situation in which no progress is possible, especially because of disagreement or a deadlock in negotiations.; A road or passage that has no exit; a dead end.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: impasses

Collocations

reach an impasseat an impassebreak the impassecome to an impassepolitical impasse

Synonyms

deadlockstalematestandstillgridlockstandofflogjam

Antonyms

breakthroughresolutionprogress

Commonly confused

impair
EN: 'Impair' means to weaken or damage something; 'impasse' refers to a situation where no progress is possible.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the double 's' and the silent final 'e': i-m-p-a-s-s-e. It is often misspelled as 'impas' or 'impass' by dropping the final 'e'.

💬 Examples

  1. The peace talks reached an impasse when neither side would compromise.

  2. We drove down the narrow street only to find it was an impasse.