improbability

improbability
I
(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)
Lack of likelihood
Nouns — improbability, unlikelihood, unlikeliness; small or long chance, Chinaman's chance, ghost of a chance; long odds, long shot; incredibility (see doubt). See hopelessness, impossibility.
Verbs — be improbable or unlikely, be a strain on the imagination.
Adjectives — improbable, unlikely, contrary to all reasonable expectation, doubtful, farfetched; rare, infrequent (see rarity); unheard-of, implausible, questionable, fishy. Slang, in a pig's eye.
Interjections — don't count on it! don't hold your breath! don't bet on it! you should live so long!
Quotations — Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable (H. L. Mencken), When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth (A. Conan Doyle), The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale (Richard Dawkins).
Antonyms, see chance, probability.
II
(Roget's IV) n.
Syn. unlikelihood, implausibility, doubtfulness, rarity; see impossibility , uncertainty 2 .

English dictionary for students. 2013.

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  • Improbability — may also refer to the opposite of probability. Improbability is the modal probability employed by Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy . Improbability is modeled after mathematical probability, but is only related to real… …   Wikipedia

  • Improbability — Im*prob a*bil i*ty, n.; pl. {Improbabilities}. [Cf. F. improbabilit[ e].] The quality or state of being improbable; unlikelihood; also, that which is improbable; an improbable event or result. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • improbability — I noun bare possibility, doubt, doubtfulness, implausibility, impossibility, inexpectation, infrequency, little chance, long odds, non verisimilis, nonexpectation, poor chance, poor prospect, questionability, rare occurrence, rarity, small chance …   Law dictionary

  • improbability — (n.) 1590s, fact or quality of being improbably; see IMPROBABLE (Cf. improbable) + ITY (Cf. ity). Meaning an instance of something improbable is from 1610s …   Etymology dictionary

  • Improbability — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Improbability >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 improbability improbability unlikelihood Sgm: N 1 unfavorable chance unfavorable chance bad chance ghost of a chance little chance small chance poor chance scarcely any chance …   English dictionary for students

  • improbability — noun the quality of being improbable impossibility should never be confused with improbability the improbability of such rare coincidences • Syn: ↑improbableness • Ant: ↑probability • Derivationally related forms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • improbability — improbable ► ADJECTIVE ▪ not likely to be true or to happen. DERIVATIVES improbability noun (pl. improbabilities) improbably adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • Improbability factor — In computer programming the improbability factor is a situation where a problem exists in a system. Frequently, the programmers are aware of the problem, but they are not allowed to fix the problem, solely because the chances of the problem ever… …   Wikipedia

  • improbability — noun see improbable …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • improbability — /im prob euh bil i tee, im prob /, n., pl. improbabilities for 2. 1. the quality or condition of being improbable; unlikelihood. 2. something improbable or unlikely. [1590 1600; IMPROBABLE + ITY] * * * …   Universalium

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