All 4 Uses
palpable
in
The Scarlet Letter
(Edited)
- He was, in truth, a rare phenomenon; so perfect, in one point of view; so shallow, so delusive, so impalpable such an absolute nonentity, in every other.
p. 18.9impalpable = insubstantialstandard prefix: The prefix "im-" in impalpable means not and reverses the meaning of palpable. This prefix is sometimes used before words beginning with "M" or "P" as seen in words like immoral, immature, and impossible.
- It was a folly, with the materiality of this daily life pressing so intrusively upon me, to attempt to fling myself back into another age, or to insist on creating the semblance of a world out of airy matter, when, at every moment, the impalpable beauty of my soap-bubble was broken by the rude contact of some actual circumstance.
p. 36.5
- To the untrue man, the whole universe is false—it is impalpable—it shrinks to nothing within his grasp.
p. 135.5 *
- At first, as already told, she had flirted fancifully with her own image in a pool of water, beckoning the phantom forth, and—as it declined to venture—seeking a passage for herself into its sphere of impalpable earth and unattainable sky.
p. 164.3
Definitions:
-
(1)
(palpable) very apparent (so strong, it almost seems to take a material form that can be touched)"Palpable" is frequently used to describe the intensity of an emotion shared between people who can see each other. The implication is that the emotion is so strong, it almost takes a material form that can be touched.
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(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) In medicine, "palpable" means that something such as a tumor can be detected by palpitation; i.e., a physician's touch.