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
Nasa's six instruments are joined on Odysseus by payloads from six other IM customers.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2024
“I won’t take this laying down anymore IM DONE!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
That night I only IM with him until 2 A.M. instead of our usual 3 A.M.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
“You know when I’m in your city at this point,” the Miami-born rapper said before accepting a framed Guinness World Records certificate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I didn’t think about how hard it actually would be, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not going to be able to find them.’”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
"I'm like the last person to the party and know nothing about it," says Bethany, who lives in Australia.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Sometimes I’m at the market, suddenly hear a random sentence, and then it becomes part of a tune.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
And now that I’m here in this basement, with Grace in my hands, everything is better.
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
The im- pression of critics was that the group performed well, that opera in English could be sung intelligibly, that the University of Rochester maintained an advanced school of music.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the maneuver, the black king was safely im- planted, then the rook was shrewdly returned.
From Time Magazine Archive
Their managers always have the im- pression that the voters who do not vote would vote for their candidates if they got to the polls.
From Time Magazine Archive
Being very ingenious, she soon acquired the art of making hats; but on account of former hard treatment, her constitution was greatly im- paired, and she was subject to seasons of sickness.
From Our nig, or, sketches from the life of a free black, in a two-story white house, North Showing that slavery's shadows fall even there by Wilson, Harriet E.
Town and river names in -is regularly have -im, -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
Of the others, many at times show -im and -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
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 Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
Words marked with a star regularly have Acc. -im; those marked with a † regularly have Abl. -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
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 Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
There’s a folksy, faux-naïveté to her art, as im “Revelation,” a striking vertical panel in which an ancestor of the artist hides a treasure, then comes to her in a dream to reveal its location.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
Citing a source, the Post quoted the message this way: “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2025
"It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this," reads a message from an account that allegedly belongs to Robinson, according to the spokesperson and a law enforcement source.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025
“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
Hope u friend me agen cuz im really sorry.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
IM's 675kg Odysseus lander is about the size of an old British telephone box.
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
If you can get it working, though, you’ll be rewarded with a new tab at the bottom of the Gmail app, giving you access to your IMs.
From The Verge ● May 13, 2021
He IMs when he can—in between classes or, sometimes, right in the middle of one.
From "Everything, Everything" 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
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
“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
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
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
We began to talk every morning and night while IMing throughout the day.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2013
He and his friends have co-ed parties, go ice skating together, and never stop IMing.
From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2012
It was a long bus ride and I must have dozed off a little -- staying up late IMing with Ange was hard on my sleep-schedule, since Mom still expected me down for breakfast.
From Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory
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.
