impasse

Meanings

1. A situation in which no progress is possible because the sides disagree.
2. A road or path with no way through, a dead end.

Example sentences

• "The talks reached an impasse over wages."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

• "A new mediator helped them break the impasse."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

• "The two leaders remain at an impasse."

  Level B2, Meaning 1

• "The alley was an impasse, so we turned back."

  Level B2, Meaning 2

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• deadlock : Deadlock is nearly the same. It stresses that two sides are locked against each other, while impasse stresses that there is no way forward.
• stalemate : Stalemate comes from chess and means neither side can win. An impasse can still end if one side gives way.

Word family and forms

Forms: impasses

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "impasse".

• reach an impasse
• break the impasse
• at an impasse
• a political impasse
• end the impasse
• a negotiating impasse

Origin

Impasse was borrowed from French in the mid 1800s. The French word is built from im-, meaning not, and a stem of passer, to pass, so it first named a place you cannot pass through.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Im means not and passe means pass, so an impasse is a place you cannot pass.

Test yourself

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