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Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.
Ronald Fisher

Meaning of "improbability" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF IMPROBABILITY

improbability  [ɪmˌprɒbəˈbɪlɪtɪ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF IMPROBABILITY

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Improbability is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES IMPROBABILITY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

improbability

Probability

Probability is a measure of the likeliness that an event will occur. Probability is used to quantify an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we are not certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The certainty we adopt can be described in terms of a numerical measure and this number, between 0 and 1, we call probability. Thus the higher the probability of an event, the more certain we are that the event will occur. A simple example would be the toss of a fair coin. Since the 2 outcomes are deemed equiprobable, the probability of "heads" equals the probability of "tails" and each probability is 1/2 or equivalently a 50% chance of either "heads" or "tails". These concepts have been given an axiomatic mathematical formalization in probability theory, which is used widely in such areas of study as mathematics, statistics, finance, gambling, science, artificial intelligence/machine learning, computer science, and philosophy to, for example, draw inferences about the expected frequency of events.

Definition of improbability in the English dictionary

The definition of improbability in the dictionary is the quality of being improbable.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH IMPROBABILITY


ability
əˈbɪlɪtɪ
accessibility
əkˌsɛsɪˈbɪlɪtɪ
accountability
əˌkaʊntəˈbɪlɪtɪ
availability
əˌveɪləˈbɪlɪtɪ
capability
ˌkeɪpəˈbɪlɪtɪ
compatibility
kəmˌpætɪˈbɪlɪtɪ
disability
ˌdɪsəˈbɪlɪtɪ
durability
ˌdjʊərəˈbɪlɪtɪ
eligibility
ˌɛlɪdʒɪˈbɪlɪtɪ
flexibility
ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪtɪ
inability
ˌɪnəˈbɪlɪtɪ
liability
ˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ
mobility
məʊˈbɪlɪtɪ
nobility
nəʊˈbɪlɪtɪ
possibility
ˌpɒsɪˈbɪlɪtɪ
probability
ˌprɒbəˈbɪlɪtɪ
reliability
rɪˌlaɪəˈbɪlɪtɪ
responsibility
rɪˌspɒnsəˈbɪlɪtɪ
stability
stəˈbɪlɪtɪ
visibility
ˌvɪzɪˈbɪlɪtɪ

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE IMPROBABILITY

imprisonment
improbable
improbableness
improbably
improbation
improbities
improbity
impromptu
improper
improper fraction
improper integral
improperly
improperness
impropriate
impropriation
impropriator
improprieties
impropriety
improv
improvability

WORDS THAT END LIKE IMPROBABILITY

agility
credibility
facility
feasibility
fertility
functionality
hostility
humility
inevitability
instability
merchantability
profitability
suitability
susceptibility
sustainability
tranquility
usability
utility
variability
versatility
vulnerability

Synonyms and antonyms of improbability in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «IMPROBABILITY»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «improbability» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of improbability

Translation of «improbability» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF IMPROBABILITY

Find out the translation of improbability to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of improbability from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «improbability» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

不大可能
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

improbabilidad
570 millions of speakers

English

improbability
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

असंभवता
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

اللا احتماليه
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

невероятность
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

improbabilidade
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

অসম্ভবতা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

improbabilité
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Kecenderungan
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Unwahrscheinlichkeit
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

起こりそうにないこと
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

정말 같지
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Improbability
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

không thật
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அடைவது நிகழ்தற்கரியதாக
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

असंभाव्यता
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

ihtimalsizlik
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

improbabilità
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

nieprawdopodobieństwo
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

неймовірність
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

improbabilitate
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

απιθανότητα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

onwaarskynlikheid
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

osannolikhet
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

usannsynlighet
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of improbability

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «IMPROBABILITY»

The term «improbability» is normally little used and occupies the 124.222 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Little used
42
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «improbability» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of improbability
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «improbability».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «IMPROBABILITY» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «improbability» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «improbability» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about improbability

EXAMPLES

3 QUOTES WITH «IMPROBABILITY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word improbability.
1
Ronald Fisher
Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability.
2
Jerry Pournelle
The importance of information is directly proportional to its improbability.
3
Lewis Thomas
The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most of all, we need to preserve the absolute unpredictability and total improbability of our connected minds. That way we can keep open all the options, as we have in the past.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «IMPROBABILITY»

Discover the use of improbability in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to improbability and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and ...
In The Improbability Principle, the renowned statistician David J. Hand argues that extraordinarily rare events are anything but.
David J. Hand, 2014
2
The Improbability of God
In addition, they arrange this diverse collection of arguments for the improbability of God into four thematic groups: Part 1 contains cosmological arguments based on the weight of the evidence relative to the origin of the universe; Part 2 ...
Michael Martin, Ricki Monnier, 2006
3
The Improbability of Othello: Rhetorical Anthropology and ...
Yet negotiating the space of probability is fraught with difficulty. Here, Joel B. Altman explores the problematics of probability and the psychology of persuasion in Renaissance rhetoric and Shakespeare’s theater.
Joel B. Altman, 2010
4
Atheism Is False: Richard Dawkins and the Improbability of ...
The defense of Hugh Ross's fine-tuning arguments against objections raised by Ikeda and Jefferys is, alone, worth the price of this book! David Reuben Stone is president and founder of Atheism Is False Ministries: www.atheismisfalse.com
David Reuben Stone, 2007
5
Essays on Self-reference
4. The. Improbability. of. Communication. Without communication there can be no human relations, indeed no human life. Communication theory cannot therefore be confined to examining only certain sectors of life in society. It is not enough to  ...
Niklas Luhmann, 1990
6
The New Greek Comedy
Characters : Euclio, 167-170, 326, improbability, 320, reformation, 442, compared with Smicrines in Menander's "EiriTp«iroKTtj, 13; Eunomia, her altruism, 609 ; Megadorus, 241, change of mind, 395, improbability, 320, comparison of play with ...
Philippe Ernest Legrand, 1917
7
The Friend
to circumstances. In examining, therefore, the relations of testimony to the marvellous, we are really investigating the method of weighing a probability on one side against an improbability on the other, and it is necessary in the outset to  ...
‎1868
8
The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer
Suppose that there are several pieces of evidence, e1, e2 and e3 each of which would fit in with a hypothesis h, but each of which, on its own, is explained with less initial improbability on some other grounds, say by g1,g2 , andg3 respectively.
Christopher Hitchens, 2007
9
An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the ...
(Hick 1985b, 36-7) The antecedent improbability of an individual being conceived who is precisely me is thus already quite staggering. But a comparable calculation applies to each of my parents, and then to each of their parents and ...
John Hick, 2004
10
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
improbability and deliberate design. So compelling is that illusion that it fooled our greatest minds for centuries, until Charles Darwin burst on to the scene. Natural selection is an improbability pump: a process that generates the statistically ...
Richard Dawkins, 2009

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «IMPROBABILITY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term improbability is used in the context of the following news items.
1
The radical chic of Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Washington Post
... its very improbability may have made it especially easy to embrace. All consciousness, few demands. Perfect for a white America that Coates ... «Washington Post, Jul 15»
2
Ain't No Cure For The Summertime Blues: Legal Remix | Big Law …
... economic freedom to decline them — for lifestyle as well as pragmatic reasons, principally the statistical improbability of becoming partner. «Bloomberg Big Law Business, Jul 15»
3
Review: George Bowering's wistful look at the writing life
And in, “Curiosity,” he reveals a beautiful improbability: “…I step all over images/people have left behind in their hurry/to get to the delicatessen, ... «Edmonton Journal, Jul 15»
4
In Defense of Being Average
We can then say that it is a complete statistical improbability that any single person can be an extraordinary performer in all areas of their life, ... «New York Observer, Jul 15»
5
Conservative leader urges defeat of gay protection proposals
The actors in Eclectic Theatre Company's "Moon Over Buffalo" embrace every improbability and perform with gusto every bit of slapstick ... «Chicago Daily Herald, Jul 15»
6
Metropolis' 'Moon Over Buffalo' delivers laughs, but few thrills
The actors in Eclectic Theatre Company's "Moon Over Buffalo" embrace every improbability and perform with gusto every bit of slapstick ... «Chicago Daily Herald, Jul 15»
7
EDM's Zedd finds new voice, shows growth on 'True Colors …
The actors in Eclectic Theatre Company's "Moon Over Buffalo" embrace every improbability and perform with gusto every bit of slapstick ... «Chicago Daily Herald, Jul 15»
8
Review: The Foreigner | Houston Press
And of course there's the improbability and predictability of nearly every scenario that is inherent with fluffy farce. It's enough to make a critic ... «Houston Press, Jul 15»
9
EPA Targets Airline Industry
Apparently recognizing the improbability of reaching any agreement that other big CO2 emitters will accept, the Obama White House is ... «Newsmax, Jul 15»
10
Iran Deal Creates World's Most Intrusive Inspection Regime …
The threat they fear is not so much the distant improbability of Iran obliterating Tel Aviv and Haifa. The Iranians know very well that the result of ... «Firedoglake, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Improbability [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/improbability>. May 2024 ».
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