All 3 Uses of
palpable
in
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
- Troubles and other realities took on themselves a metaphysical impalpability, sinking to mere mental phenomena for serene contemplation, and no longer stood as pressing concretions which chafed body and soul.†
Chpt 1impalpability = the quality of being imperceptiblestandard prefix: The prefix "im-" in impalpability means not and reverses the meaning of palpability. This prefix is sometimes used before words beginning with "M" or "P" as seen in words like immoral, immature, and impossible.
- Every time she held the skimmer under the pump to cool it for the work her hand trembled, the ardour of his affection being so palpable that she seemed to flinch under it like a plant in too burning a sun.†
Chpt 4 *palpable = very apparent
- But such was unreasoning memory that, though he stood there openly and palpably a converted man, who was sorrowing for his past irregularities, a fear overcame her, paralyzing her movement so that she neither retreated nor advanced.†
Chpt 6palpably = in a very apparent way
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.
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) 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.