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What is the difference between impractical and impracticable? The former is the word with which I am familiar.
The dictionary definition seems to indicate that impracticable relates to the inability to accomplish something rather than the merits of doing so. However, other grammatical references, such as Grammarist, indicate that "Impracticable is a synonym of impractical in the definition of being unfeasible or impossible to use."
Is this a matter of degrees, or is there a clear difference?
Impractical
- Not practical : not wise to put into or keep in practice or effect
"Playing basketball is impractical because there is a hurricane outside."
(MWD)
Impracticable
- Not practicable : incapable of being performed or accomplished by the means employed or at command; impossible
"Playing basketball is impracticable because we do not have a basketball or a hoop."
(MWD)
Basically, Impracticable is something that cannot be practiced with what you have at your command, while Impractical is something that is unwise to practice.
I do agree that they are synonyms, but I do not think they are generally interchangeable and there is a clear difference in the most common usages.
In drafting contacts and similar legal language, I would use the word "Impracticable" to convey a weaker meaning of "not easy, or awkward to make happen, or inconvenient," while the word "impractical" would sometimes be used to convey a stronger meaning that is almost equivalent to "impossible."
