Improbability

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  improbability
       n : the quality of being improbable [syn: {improbableness}]
           [ant: {probability}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  47 Moby Thesaurus words for "improbability":
     abnormality, anomaly, bare possibility, conversation piece, curio,
     curiosity, dark horse, exception, fighting chance, gambling chance,
     hardly a chance, hundred-to-one shot, inexpectance, inexpectancy,
     inexpectation, little chance, little opportunity, long odds,
     long shot, museum piece, no expectation, nonesuch, nonexpectation,
     oddity, off chance, outside chance, poor bet, poor lookout,
     poor possibility, poor prospect, prodigiosity, prodigy, rarity,
     remote possibility, slim chance, small chance, strange thing,
     the unforeseen, the unlooked-for, unanticipation, unexpectedness,
     unforeseeableness, unlikelihood, unpredictability,
     unpredictableness, unpreparedness, unreadiness
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  IMPROBABILITY, n.
  
      His tale he told with a solemn face
      And a tender, melancholy grace.
          Improbable 'twas, no doubt,
          When you came to think it out,
          But the fascinated crowd
          Their deep surprise avowed
      And all with a single voice averred
      'Twas the most amazing thing they'd heard --
      All save one who spake never a word,
          But sat as mum
          As if deaf and dumb,
      Serene, indifferent and unstirred.
          Then all the others turned to him
          And scrutinized him limb from limb --
          Scanned him alive;
          But he seemed to thrive
          And tranquiler grow each minute,
          As if there were nothing in it.
      "What! what!" cried one, "are you not amazed
      At what our friend has told?"  He raised
      Soberly then his eyes and gazed
          In a natural way
          And proceeded to say,
      As he crossed his feet on the mantel-shelf:
      "O no -- not at all; I'm a liar myself."