Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INSUPERABLE
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pronounce
INSUPERABLE:
Say it "in SOO pur uh bull."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
What does it mean if a problem, an obstacle, or a difficulty is insuperable? It means you can't beat it: it's too huge, too high, too hard.
And what does it mean if a force, a spirit, or a movement is ind____able? It means you can't tame it, or you can't dominate it: it's too wild, too strong, too powerful.
Either way: Challenge accepted, right?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Let's start with the word "super." It comes straight from Latin, where it means "over" or "above."
Next, turn "super" into a verb: "superate." Yes, it's a real verb, but it's rare. To superate things is to rise above them: to overcome them, to beat them, or to exceed them.
That takes us to "superable," meaning "able to be overcome: able to be beaten, able to be exceeded." Again, "superable" is a real word, but it's rare.
Much more common is the opposite word, "insuperable." Insuperable things are so high, so huge, or so good that they can't be overcome, beaten, or exceeded.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: adjective: "the other team's insuperable advantages," "their close-minded attitude is insuperable"
Other forms: insuperably, insuperability
how to use it:
Use this strong, dramatic word for emphasis. It's a fresh alternative to more common synonyms like "unbeatable" and "impossible."
If you can imagine something being so big or so tall that, figuratively, you can't climb over it, you can call it insuperable.
So, talk about insuperable limits, barriers, and obstacles; insuperable differences and distances; and insuperable problems and difficulties.
You can also refer to people's dislikes, objections, unwillingness, close-mindedness and so on as insuperable, meaning there's just no getting past them.
examples:
"Skeptics say [China] faces insuperable hurdles, including an education system that emphasizes memorization over original thinking."
— Eva Dou, Wall Street Journal, 6 December 2016
"To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd. Yet...the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed by natural selection, though insuperable by our imagination, can hardly be considered real."
— Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, 1859
has this page helped you understand "insuperable"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "insuperable" without saying "unbeatable" or "insurmountable."
try it out:
Be serious or silly as you fill in the blanks: "When you're (limited or burdened in some way), _____ poses an insuperable difficulty."
Example: "When you're desperately sleep-deprived, basic subtraction poses an insuperable difficulty."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Rhyming Puzzles!
I give you a description of something, and you name it in a rhyming phrase. For example, if I say, "This is an ideal environment for a large tree-dwelling lizard--one in which this creature is perfectly happy and peaceful," then you say, "That's iguana nirvana."
The answers will get longer and sillier as the month goes on. If you'd like to see the clue, click or mouse-over the link. I'll share each answer the following day. Enjoy!
From the previous issue:
When your eccentric friend who loves movies from the 1930's writes you emails, he appends the word "see" to the end of every sentence, imitating a gangster. He writes things like, "When one man's gonna run this town, I'll be him, see?" As funny as it is for you to read his emails with these "see"s all over the place, it's even funnier to hear him do it out loud, in person.
You're amused by the sheer uselessness and pointlessness of each "see," spoken aloud: by your friend's ______ "see" ____ ____.
(Two words, followed by a two-word phrase. The first word has three syllables. The second word is "see," in quotation marks. And each word in the final two-word phrase has two syllables. Clue: here's the two-word phrase. You'll also use another Make Your Point word.)
Answer: otiose "see" viva voce.
Try this one today: In the dining room, your forks come to life and express their abundant joy with a skillful, harmonious song, plucking their own tines as if they were string instruments performing in practiced unity. This whole happy hallucination is a ____ _______ _____________. (Three words. The first word has one syllable. The second word has three syllables. And the last word has four syllables. Clue: use a form of this word.)
review this word:
1. The exact opposite of INSUPERABLE is SUPERABLE.
But a pretty close opposite of INSUPERABLE is
A. FIXABLE.
B. BEATABLE.
C. NAVIGABLE.
2. If something insuperable is in your way, well, _____.
A. dig it up
B. extinguish it
C. go around it
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
What does it mean if a problem, an obstacle, or a difficulty is insuperable? It means you can't beat it: it's too huge, too high, too hard. Let's start with the word "super." It comes straight from Latin, where it means "over" or "above."
Part of speech: adjective: "the other team's insuperable advantages," "their close-minded attitude is insuperable"
Use this strong, dramatic word for emphasis. It's a fresh alternative to more common synonyms like "unbeatable" and "impossible."
"Skeptics say [China] faces insuperable hurdles, including an education system that emphasizes memorization over original thinking."
Explain the meaning of "insuperable" without saying "unbeatable" or "insurmountable."
Be serious or silly as you fill in the blanks: "When you're (limited or burdened in some way), _____ poses an insuperable difficulty."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The exact opposite of INSUPERABLE is SUPERABLE.
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