imperceptible
/ˌɪmpɚsˈɛptɪbəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.49 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Not perceptible, not detectable, too small in magnitude to be observed.
noun
Something that is imperceptible.
Example Sentences
- "We all missed the imperceptible shake of his head as he tried to warn us without being seen."
- "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."
- "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."
- "To my unpractised eye, the undulations in the track were quite imperceptible, but the engineer's hand on the throttle was never still."
- "Very small benefits may be imperceptible. And it is plausible to claim that an 'imperceptible benefit' is not a benefit."
- "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?"
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English imperceptible, from Middle French imperceptible and its etymon Medieval Latin imperceptibilis. By surface analysis, im- + perceptible.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *keh₂p-, imperceptible, imperceptibilis