impressionable
Americanadjective
-
easily impressed or influenced; susceptible.
an impressionable youngster.
- Synonyms:
- suggestible, responsive, receptive
-
capable of being impressed.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impressionable
1825–35; impression + -able; compare French impressionnable
Explanation
Someone who is impressionable is easily influenced. An impressionable person can be greatly changed by his or her experiences — not always in a good way. When someone makes an impression on you, you remember them and are influenced by them. Likewise, someone impressionable is very susceptible to being influenced, almost like a sponge that soaks up ideas. This word almost always applies to kids who are often referred to as “young and impressionable." If you call someone impressionable, it usually implies that they could be easily led astray.
Vocabulary lists containing impressionable
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Catch-22
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"A Village After Dark" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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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.
Impressionable young punkers, who came from broken homes that fit outside of the idealistic nature of the Reagan presidency, were influenced by British bands like the Sex Pistols and the Damned.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2025
Impressionable kids have had a chance to cut their teeth on the Angels and their best record in baseball, and everyone loves a winner.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2014
United, Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, Seattle Young & Impressionable Seattle's youngest players have been at the forefront of the past two matches.
From Seattle Times • May 17, 2010
Impressionable, warmhearted, those jolly South-Germans were on a veritable spree of local patriotism.
From Time Magazine Archive
Impressionable and unhappy women have done such deeds before now, especially if they imagine themselves to have become the object of gossip.
From Stella Fregelius by Haggard, Henry Rider
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.
