impartial
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See fair 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of impartial
Explanation
If you're in a contest, you'd better hope the judges are impartial. That means that they aren't biased toward one competitor over another. If you’re partial to the color green, you love green and wear it all the time. If you’re impartial to colors, you don’t care what color you wear. To be impartial is to be objective, so you don’t mind one way or another how something is going to turn out. It’s important for jurors to be impartial when reaching a verdict, rather than allowing biases and preconceptions affect their judgment.
Vocabulary lists containing impartial
The Bill of Rights
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Positive Adjectives to Describe People
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 10
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Impartial justice under such a system is doubtful.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
Impartial election observers said they had not seen “significant irregularities” or any evidence of misdoing.
From New York Times • Dec. 20, 2022
“We’ve always assumed there would be opposition at some point,” said Mike Swenson, spokesman for Keep Kansas Courts Impartial.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 28, 2022
Notably, Fair and Impartial Policing offered training with the Minneapolis Police Department—which until recently employed Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed Floyd—as part of a wider $300,000 city contract in 2015.
From Slate • Jun. 18, 2020
Impartial observers must have pitied these poor people driven to despair by being cut off from their trading markets by the fiscal arrangements of the Royal Niger Company.
From West African studies by Kingsley, Mary Henrietta
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
