Etymologically
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impractical

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪmˈpɹæktɪkəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English im- + practical,[2][3][4][5][6] with the form of the prefix in- meaning "not" that is used before p.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not practical: Etymonline dates the word to 1823,[4] but the OED's first record, followed by Barnhart, Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford, is from 1865, in John Stuart Mill's writing in the Morning Star.[2][3][7][5]

Semantic evolution

The OED gives it from the start both as "unpractical" and as a synonym of impracticable,[2][5] which, according to Etymonline, had been used in that sense since the 1670s;[4] unpractical is rare.[4] It is used of plans that would not work or would not pay, and also of people who are not good at practical matters.[8][7]

Timeline

  • 1823 – not practical.[4] The OED's first quotation, from John Stuart Mill in 1865, has it also in the sense impracticable.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Not sensible or workable in practice: A glass roof would be impractical in a city with so much hail.[8][7]
  2. Not good at dealing with everyday practical matters, especially money: He was a brilliant scholar but hopelessly impractical.[8][7]
  3. Idealistic or merely theoretical.[7]
  4. Impracticable; impossible to put into practice.[2][7][5]

Word family

  • impracticality
  • impractically

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes the two words: impracticable is used of a plan that cannot be carried out at all, while impractical can mean the same but also, more weakly, that the plan would give too little return or be of little practical value; a stadium on marshy ground would be impracticable, one too far for fans to reach would be impractical.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin