Impervious To: Standard Pattern
Impervious To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced complement pattern rather than inventing a broader prohibition.
Use “impervious to” when someone or something is unaffected by, resistant to, or not influenced by another factor.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| unaffected by or resistant to an influence, substance, or condition | impervious to + noun | Use “impervious to.” |
| literal or figurative resistance | impervious to | Keep the same complement while interpreting meaning from context. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Does the complement name what fails to affect, penetrate, or influence the subject?
If yes: Use “impervious to.”
If no: Use another construction if the relationship is not one of resistance or non-effect.
Caveat: The adjective can be literal or figurative; this guide documents the complement pattern without equating “impervious” with every sense of “resistant.”
Examples
The coating is impervious to water.
“To” introduces what cannot penetrate or affect the coating.
He seemed impervious to criticism.
The figurative sense means unaffected by criticism.
The material is impervious to moisture.
The literal resistance sense takes the same “to” complement.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents “impervious to” for being unaffected by or not influenced by something.
Style Boundary
The construction can be literal or figurative depending on context; the guide does not collapse it into every use of resistant.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- IMPERVIOUS | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press & Assessment · Cambridge dictionary evidence for impervious to as a documented construction.