impractical

Impractical is an adjective used to describe ideas, plans, designs, or objects that are not suitable for practical use under current conditions. It often signals excessive cost, complexity, risk, or misalignment with available resources, time, or environment. The term is evaluative and can reflect concerns about feasibility, usefulness, or reliability, as well as aesthetics or ambition.

Etymology and nuance: The word derives from practical with the prefix im-, indicating negation. It is closely related to impracticable; in ordinary usage the two terms are often treated as synonymous. In many contexts, impractical emphasizes a failure of sensibility or utility given real-world constraints, whereas impracticable tends to stress that something cannot be done at all or within the feasible limits of a situation.

Usage and domains: Impractical is common in design, engineering, policy, business planning, and fashion. A proposal may be deemed impractical if it overlooks costs, maintenance, safety, or user needs, even if technically possible. The term can also appear in discussions of visionary ideas, where impracticality is acknowledged yet ambition or experimentation is valued.

Examples and related terms: An impractical plan to power a city with a single prototype turbine; an impractical gadget that requires rare components and constant tuning; an impractical fashion choice for a given climate. Related words include unworkable, unrealistic, infeasible, and impracticable.