Impervious

Simple meaning

Impervious means not allowing something to pass through — physically or figuratively. A material can be impervious to water. A person can be impervious to criticism.

Detailed meaning

The word comes from Latin — impervius — meaning not allowing passage. A road that was pervious allowed passage; one that was impervious did not.

Physical sense: A material that is impervious does not let anything through — water, air, sound, heat.

• "Waterproof jackets use an impervious membrane that prevents rain from reaching the skin."
• "The vault walls were impervious to drilling — no tool they had could make a dent."

Figurative sense (much more common today): A person who is impervious to something is unaffected by it — it doesn't change their thinking, upset them, or get through to them.

• "She was impervious to flattery — compliments never changed her assessment."
• "He seemed impervious to pressure — the harder they pushed, the calmer he became."

The figurative sense can be positive (impervious to manipulation, impervious to pressure in a crisis) or negative (impervious to feedback, impervious to the concerns of others).

Word forms:

• Impervious (adjective) — always used as an adjective, followed by to
• Imperviousness (noun — rare) — "His imperviousness to criticism was both an asset and a blind spot."
• Always followed by to: "impervious to" — not "impervious of" or "impervious about"

Where to use it

• Materials and engineering — "The coating makes the surface impervious to moisture and UV damage."
• Character and resilience — "She was impervious to intimidation — nothing they said could rattle her."
• Feedback and growth — "He was impervious to feedback — every critique bounced off without changing anything."
• Pressure and influence — "The judge was impervious to political pressure — the ruling reflected only the evidence."

Where not to use it

Remember that impervious is always followed by to — not of, about, or with. Also, in the figurative sense, be careful about tone: impervious to feedback sounds like a serious character flaw, while impervious to flattery sounds admirable. The word itself is neutral — context decides whether it's a compliment.

5 example sentences

1. The boots are impervious to water — you can stand in a stream for an hour and your feet stay dry.
2. She seemed impervious to fear — every situation others found terrifying, she approached with quiet focus.
3. His imperviousness to feedback was the thing holding him back — he heard every critique, but nothing changed.
4. The castle walls were built to be impervious to siege weapons — three metres thick, solid granite.
5. Being impervious to short-term market noise is one of the defining qualities of the best long-term investors.

Common mistakes

Similar & opposite words

Similar (synonyms)

Opposite (antonyms)

Memory trick

A short story to remember it

The feedback session had not gone the way the team expected.

Three senior managers sat across from the product lead and laid out their concerns, one by one. The market positioning was unclear. The pricing model was risky. The launch timeline was overambitious.

The product lead listened politely. She took notes. She thanked them for their time.

And then she proceeded with exactly the plan she had brought in.

Two quarters later, the launch succeeded beyond every projection.

She had been impervious to the criticism — not because she was arrogant, but because she had done the work. She had heard the concerns before. She had already tested the assumptions. She was certain.

Being impervious to criticism is dangerous when you haven't done the work. When you have — it's called conviction.

"Impervious to pressure is not the same as closed to reason. One is strength. The other is stubbornness."

Practice quiz

Summary

Impervious means not allowing anything to pass through — physically (a material impervious to water) or figuratively (a person impervious to pressure or criticism). It is always followed by to. The word is neutral — context decides whether being impervious is admirable (resistance to manipulation) or a problem (resistance to feedback). It does not mean unaware — an impervious person notices but remains unaffected. The uncommon noun form is imperviousness.