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Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak quote

Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak

CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com

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impalpable

Grammar usage guide and real-world examples

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "impalpable" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that cannot be touched or is difficult to perceive, often in a metaphorical sense. Example: "The tension in the room was impalpable, as everyone awaited the announcement with bated breath."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Encyclopedias

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

48 human-written examples

It owes much also to his own feverish dreams, to which he applied a rare faculty of shaping plausible fabrics out of impalpable materials.

Mr Paes said the most important effects of the Olympics "are sometimes, many times, the intangible transformations, the impalpable ones related to the brand of a country, the brand of a city, with the self-esteem of a country".

News & Media

Independent

His scrupulous wrestle with the impalpable can be quite comic, but his basic point is serious: out of the books of others we sift a book of our own, wherein we read the lessons we need to hear.

News & Media

The New Yorker

Learned Hand, whom patent lawyers revere as one of the great patent judges of all time, wrote that the definition of invention was "as fugitive, impalpable, wayward, and vague a phantom as exists in the whole paraphernalia of legal concepts".

News & Media

The New Yorker

I had a fear of falling: airplanes spilling their spinning contents like black beans; the parapets at Rockefeller Center or the Guggenheim proving too low and sucking me down with impalpable winds of dread; engorging atria in swank hotels, the piano player miles below his music, his instrument no bigger than a footprint.

News & Media

The New Yorker

Though one wouldn't want to turn McCarthy into Henry James, there are surely ways to use a novel to register the more impalpable forms of evil and violence as well as the palpable.

News & Media

The New Yorker

Oppenheimer begins the opera by saying, "The soul is a thing so impalpable," and returns many times to the soul, the spirit, and the heart.

News & Media

The New Yorker

Yet the compliment is not merely inverted, since even freakish mastery of such tricks does not account for those impalpable gifts — the tremor of presence on the page, the overflow of vitality — which rival the abundance, even gratuitousness, of nature itself.

News & Media

The New Yorker

DVDs teetered in towers everywhere; Stiller would often stay up late with Jeff Mann, watching films such as "The Apartment" and "The Graduate" and "Being There" and "Play Time," hoping to reverse-engineer a style, a mood, an impalpable majesty.

News & Media

The New Yorker

It can agitate the heart until it throbs and bursts, or it can reduce pulsation until it becomes impalpable.

News & Media

The New Yorker

Oppenheimer answers Teller by archly quoting Baudelaire: "The soul is a thing so impalpable, so often useless, and sometimes so embarrassing that at this loss I felt only a little more emotion than if, during a walk, I had lost my visiting card".

News & Media

The New Yorker
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Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "impalpable" to describe abstract concepts, emotions, or atmospheres that are difficult to define or grasp, adding a layer of sophistication to your writing.

Common error

While both words describe something not easily perceived, "impalpable" suggests a difficulty in perceiving through any sense, whereas "intangible" specifically refers to something that cannot be touched. Use "impalpable" for things that are difficult to grasp conceptually or emotionally, not just physically.

Antonio Rotolo, PhD - Digital Humanist | Computational Linguist | CEO @Ludwig.guru

Antonio Rotolo, PhD

Digital Humanist | Computational Linguist | CEO @Ludwig.guru

Source & Trust

93%

Authority and reliability

4.6/5

Expert rating

Real-world application tested

Linguistic Context

The adjective "impalpable" primarily functions to describe nouns, indicating a quality of being difficult to perceive or grasp. Ludwig examples showcase its use in describing intangible transformations and forms of evil and violence, aligning with Ludwig AI's assessment of correctness.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

76%

Encyclopedias

2%

Science

22%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Wiki

0%

Social Media

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "impalpable" functions as an adjective to denote something difficult to perceive or grasp, often used in neutral writing contexts. As highlighted by Ludwig AI, the term is grammatically correct and commonly found in reputable sources. While similar to "intangible", it carries a broader sense of imperceptibility, extending beyond physical touch. Ludwig examples show the term is used in contexts ranging from describing subtle emotional states to the unseen impact of phenomena, mostly in news and media environments.

FAQs

How do you use "impalpable" in a sentence?

You can use "impalpable" to describe something difficult to perceive or grasp, such as "The tension in the room was "impalpable"." or "The benefits of the project were "impalpable" but significant."

What words are similar to "impalpable"?

Similar words include "intangible", "imperceptible", "subtle", and "ethereal". Each carries a slightly different nuance, but they all suggest something difficult to perceive or grasp.

Is "impalpable" the same as "intangible"?

While similar, "impalpable" suggests something difficult to perceive through any sense, while "intangible" specifically refers to something that cannot be touched. They are often interchangeable, but "impalpable" can apply more broadly to concepts and emotions.

When is it appropriate to use "impalpable" in writing?

"Impalpable" is appropriate when you want to convey the idea that something is difficult to grasp or perceive, whether physically or conceptually. It's particularly effective in describing abstract ideas, emotions, or atmospheres that are hard to define concretely.

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Source & Trust

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Authority and reliability

4.6/5

Expert rating

Real-world application tested

Most frequent sentences: