impressive
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impressive
Explanation
Something that is impressive stands out because it is really good. Some of the most impressive college application essays are those that reflect on past events that shaped who the writer is today. When you impress someone, you show that you are special or that what you did is praiseworthy. So something that's impressive does just that, like the impressive feat of running a marathon every week for a year. The earliest meaning of impressive was "capable of being easily impressed," from the Latin word impressus, "imprint or stamp." By around 1775, the meaning had changed to "making a strong impression on."
Vocabulary lists containing impressive
A Long Walk to Water
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Freak the Mighty
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The City of Ember
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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.
But reaching that milestone is never a given, even for the most inventive, impressive technology, the CEO told me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Across this impressive if somewhat inscrutable list was the word Canceled.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
KeAndre Lambert-Smith had four of the Chargers’ nine receptions in the first half, but a fifth would have been really impressive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
So taking the season as a whole, it seems that Sunderland's performances weren't as impressive as their results.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
It wasn’t that impressive, but I was glad I had an excuse to video him.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
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.
