impact

[noun im-pakt; verb im-pakt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR impact ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the striking of one thing against another; forceful contact; collision: The impact of the colliding cars broke the windshield.

an impinging: the impact of light on the eye.

influence; effect: the impact of Einstein on modern physics.

an impacting; forcible impinging: the tremendous impact of the shot.

the force exerted by a new idea, concept, technology, or ideology: the impact of the industrial revolution.

verb (used with object)

to drive or press closely or firmly into something; pack in.

to fill up; congest; throng: A vast crowd impacted St. Peter's Square.

to collide with; strike forcefully: a rocket designed to impact the planet Mars.

to have an impact or effect on; influence; alter: The decision may impact your whole career. The auto industry will be impacted by the new labor agreements.

verb (used without object)

to have impact or make contact forcefully: The ball impacted against the bat with a loud noise.

to have an impact or effect: Increased demand will impact on sales.

Origin of impact

First recorded in 1775–85; (noun and v.) back formation from impacted

Related formsnon·im·pact, noun, adjectivepost·im·pact, adjective

Usage note

The verb impact has developed the transitive sense “to have an impact or effect on” ( The structured reading program has done more to impact the elementary schools than any other single factor ) and the intransitive sense “to have an impact or effect” ( The work done at the computer center will impact on the economy of Illinois and the nation ). Although recent, the new uses are entirely standard and most likely to occur in formal speech and writing. See also impactful.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for impact

shock, brunt, impression, influence, repercussion, meaning, burden, significance, jolt, pound, quiver, rap, bump, ram, impingement, slap, stroke, quake, shake, crash

Examples from the Web for impact

Contemporary Examples of impact

The EPA felt that the State Department had not looked carefully enough at the impact of the pipeline if oil prices fell.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4
PunditFact.com
January 5, 2015
Residents of the neighborhoods where cops are needed the most are mixed on the impact of the apparent slowdown.
Ground Zero of the NYPD Slowdown
Batya Ungar-Sargon
January 1, 2015
Strong currents and winds, however, mean any debris could be drifting up to 31 miles a day eastward, away from the impact zone.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found
Lennox Samuels
December 30, 2014
And the hope is that if you can change their individual lives, it will have an impact on their families.
Dr. Howard Fuller's Injustice Education
Campbell Brown
December 21, 2014
The change is also likely to impact the potential paydays of Cuban players coming to the United States.
Is Major League Baseball Ready For Cuba’s Players?
Ben Jacobs
December 19, 2014

Historical Examples of impact

The impact of sounds on his ear from the receiver set him to attention.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Another belt crashed from the ship, heaved the ground under its impact.
Slaves of Mercury
Nat Schachner
This time the impact was so great the door could not withstand it, and down it came with a thud.
The Dare Boys of 1776
Stephen Angus Cox
In a daze, groping blindly for support, he waited for the shock of impact.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930
Various
Mr. Adolph Meyers sprang to his feet with the impact of the shock.
Blue-grass and Broadway
Maria Thompson Daviess

British Dictionary definitions for impact

impact

noun (ˈɪmpækt)

the act of one body, object, etc, striking another; collision

the force with which one thing hits another or with which two objects collide

the impression made by an idea, cultural movement, social group, etcthe impact of the Renaissance on Medieval Europe

verb (ɪmˈpækt)

to drive or press (an object) firmly into (another object, thing, etc) or (of two objects) to be driven or pressed firmly together

to have an impact or strong effect (on)

Derived Formsimpaction, noun

Word Origin for impact

C18: from Latin impactus pushed against, fastened on, from impingere to thrust at, from pangere to drive in

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impact

c.1600, "press closely into something," from Latin impactus, past participle of impingere "to push into, dash against, thrust at" (see impinge). Originally sense preserved in impacted teeth (1876). Sense of "strike forcefully against something" first recorded 1916. Figurative sense of "have a forceful effect on" is from 1935. Related: Impacting.

1781, "collision," from impact (v.). Figurative sense of "forceful impression" is from 1817 (Coleridge).