IM
noun
IM
1 American
[ahy-em]
/ ˈaɪˈɛm /
verb (used without object)
IM'd,
IMed,
IM'ing,
IMing
IM
2
American
abbreviation
-
Swimming. individual medley.
-
Sports. intramural.
-
Also I.M. Isle of Man.
I'm
3
American
[ahym]
/ aɪm /
im-
4
American
im-
5
American
im-
6
American
-im
7
American
IM
1
British
abbreviation
-
computing instant messaging
-
Also: i.m.. intramuscular
-
chess International Master
I'm
2
British
/ aɪm /
contraction
im-
3
British
prefix
im
4
British
abbreviation
Usage
See contraction.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of IM1
First recorded in 1990–95
Origin of -im7
From Hebrew
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.
See Examples For:
Operating expenses rose 5.5% from a year earlier to 8.71 billion euros, in part due to restructuring charges related to the the AXA IM integration, BNP Paribas added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
By watching how spirals move in the IM Lupi disc over time, the team could tell that they were caused by a new planet being born and not a planet growing bigger!
From Space Scoop ● Oct. 24, 2025
"I just love racing in these environments and it brings something special out of me. Back-to-back silvers in the 200m IM is pretty cool and what a night it's been."
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2024
Meanwhile, SAIC’s IM Motors has filed an intellectual property application for an in-car plant-care system, which will collect rain from the roof and water generated by the vehicle’s cooling system.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
With Olly back in school, our IM sessions are even more limited.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
I’m annoyed with ourselves for giving so much time to helping them.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
“Some words, if I say it with the Boston accent, you might not even know what word I’m trying to say,” he joked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
I’m an economist who has been studying inequality for about two decades.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
"These are the best in the world and I'm proving why I'm number one now."
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
I need her to tell me that what I’m thinking isn’t really what I think I’m hearing.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The sheriff listened with a distracted look on his face, but when I said I was going to see the judge, he agreed to move the child into a protected area im- mediately.
From MSNBC ● Oct. 22, 2014
That too goes back to San Diego, where he halted runaway development and im- posed what became a widely imitated blueprint for "managed growth."
From Time Magazine Archive
The documentary, directed by Patrick Farrelly and Kate O'Callaghan, shows Maron prowling the corridors like a prima donna permanently on the verge of im- or ex-ploding.
From Time Magazine Archive
Entitled Education for Ministry, Feilding's work concludes that seminary teaching tends to be evangelically uninspiring and professionally im- practical.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were im- pelled by a power not one's own, were written at differ- ent dates, and as the occasion required.
From Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 by Mary Baker Eddy
Words marked with a star regularly have Acc. -im; those marked with a † regularly have Abl. -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett
Originally the Accusative Singular ended in -im, the Ablative Singular in -ī, and the Accusative Plural in -īs; but these endings have been largely displaced by -em, -e, and -ēs, the endings of Consonant-Stems.
From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett
Of the others, many at times show -im and -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett
Their true character as Consonant-Stems, however, is shown by the fact that they never take -im in the Accusative Singular, or -ī in the Ablative Singular.
From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett
Town and river names in -is regularly have -im, -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett
In a heavily redacted message, Epstein wrote: “Hi , im jeffrey. Brett ratner thought we should meet.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
“Im trying to get updates on whether world war 3 is on but all im seeing are fat JD vance memes.”
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2025
When Women’s March shared information about an upcoming rally on Instagram, one person responded, “No im tired, yall have fun though.”
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
“Im ok, just a lil soreness, but im in good spirits.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
I really don’t know why I did what I did but I hope you dont think im evil im actually good.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
IM's target is at 80 degrees South, a mere 300km from the south pole proper.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2024
Working with my then-adviser, the Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, I analyzed the U.S. government data to show how the trajectory and other properties of IM’s fireball were consistent with the meteor having an interstellar origin.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 5, 2023
Michael Garin, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based Image Nation, said Cannes had generated significant interest for IM's film version of Dave Eggers's novel "The Circle".
From Reuters ● May 20, 2015
Mark Zuckerberg’s undergrad IM’s, scorning the “dumb” users of Facebook’s prototype, presaged the privacy policies of his $164 billion company today.
From Time ● May 30, 2014
In the final 50 meters of the IM’s freestyle leg, she swam faster than Ryan Lochte did in that portion of his gold-medal-winning 400-meter IM.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2012
They’ve checked in via text, email, IMs, chats and every other way imaginable since the disaster made national and world news.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
He qualified in the 200 and 400 IMs and the 200 backstroke.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2021
Four of the six Olympic medals won by László Cseh between 2004 and 2012 came in IM and then Katinka Hosszú swept gold in the IMs four years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2021
When I begrudgingly accept that the worst has happened, I quickly go into my emails or IMs with the deceased for clues.
From The Guardian ● May 24, 2016
There’s email and Skype and texts and IMs and maybe even visits to Jamaica.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
One last thing: A friend IM’d me a theory this morning that I want to run by you guys and the readers: “The show depicts paranoia, social anxiety, and hallucinations,” he wrote.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2012
“That explains why you haven’t asked me yet! Guess what. Corey IM’d me! We chatted for, like, almost an hour.”
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
I said yes to a request from Markie's parents to babysit the next day, and I IM’d JonPaul to see how he was feeling.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
Nancy IM'd Ned again: "How can I find him?"
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
Through this, he found my personal email and started IM'ing me constantly.
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2012
"I was sick of that fabric being all bundled up there," he IMed back.
From Time Magazine Archive
He keeps IMing me to ask when we can get together and discuss the “disconnect” he’s been feeling.
From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2017
In addition…introverted participants profited from IMing more than did extraverts.”
From Scientific American ● Jul. 31, 2015
In the movie: No IMing that we see, which makes sense, considering the Fault and Paper Towns screenwriters took out most of the video game playing in Fault.
From Time ● Jul. 24, 2015
It’s pretty reliably running things, IMing the other body parts like crazy, regulating chemicals, making calculations and responding to stimuli, half the time without you even knowing about it.
From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2013
I ended up IMing with Ange for quite a while that night.
From Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
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