1
a
: a predicament affording no obvious escape
b
: deadlock
2
: an impassable road or way : cul-de-sac
Synonyms
Examples of impasse in a Sentence
The players are poised to strike after Thursday's games because they believe, with good reason, that if no agreement is reached by the end of the post-season, the owners will declare an impasse …
—
Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits.
—Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone.
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.
Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits.
—Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone.
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.
Recent Examples on the Web
Archdiocese endorsed American Heritage Girls as alternative to Girl Scouts
According to the archdiocese, the two sides then were at an impasse.
—Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2024
Meanwhile, Boeing and its machinists' union remain at an impasse, and Spirit is considering deeper cuts.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2024
Artists like Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Green Day and hundreds more were impacted by the impasse created as SESAC’s deal with YouTube nears expiration.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 29 Sep. 2024
The impasse showed voters were split on the board's conservative shift in recent years.
—Martin Vassolo, Axios, 25 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for impasse 
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of
Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback
about these examples.
Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2024
Meanwhile, Boeing and its machinists' union remain at an impasse, and Spirit is considering deeper cuts.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2024
Artists like Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Green Day and hundreds more were impacted by the impasse created as SESAC’s deal with YouTube nears expiration.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 29 Sep. 2024
The impasse showed voters were split on the board's conservative shift in recent years.
—Martin Vassolo, Axios, 25 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for impasse
Dictionary Entries Near impasse
Cite this Entry
“Impasse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impasse. Accessed 12 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Legal Definition
impasse
noun
im·passe
ˈim-ˌpas, im-ˈpas 
: a point in especially labor negotiations at which reaching an agreement is impossible because neither party is willing to compromise or change position
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share