impressionism

[ im-presh-uh-niz-uh m ]

/ ɪmˈprɛʃ əˌnɪz əm /

noun

Fine Arts.

(usually initial capital letter) a style of painting developed in the last third of the 19th century, characterized chiefly by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects.
a manner of painting in which the forms, colors, or tones of an object are lightly and rapidly indicated.
a manner of sculpture in which volumes are partially modeled and surfaces roughened to reflect light unevenly.

a theory and practice in literature that emphasizes immediate aspects of objects or actions without attention to details.

a late-19th-century and early-20th-century style of musical composition in which lush harmonies, subtle rhythms, and unusual tonal colors are used to evoke moods and impressions.

Nearby words

impress, impressed, impressible, impression, impressionable, impressionism, impressionist, impressionistic, impressive, impressive aphasia, impressively

Origin of impressionism

1880–85; impression + -ism; compare German Impressionismus, French impressionnisme

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

Examples from the Web for impressionism

In other words, Impressionism was a statement that vision is the result of colour forces coming into contact with the retina.
Modern Painting, Its Tendency and Meaning|Willard Huntington Wright
Here is the very negation of Gallic lightness and intuition, and of all other forms of impressionism as well.
A Book of Prefaces|H. L. Mencken
All the colours that Impressionism has brought into fashion, are rather prone to lose some of their strength.
The Letters of a Post-Impressionist|Vincent Van Gogh
People ask why we have no typical architecture of the modern world, like impressionism in painting.
Tremendous Trifles|G. K. Chesterton

They were, in fact, the abstract perpetuators of Impressionism through the Cubists who represented its formal side.
Modern Painting, Its Tendency and Meaning|Willard Huntington Wright

British Dictionary definitions for impressionism

impressionism

/ (ɪmˈprɛʃəˌnɪzəm) /

noun

(often capital) a movement in French painting, developed in the 1870s chiefly by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Sisley, having the aim of objectively recording experience by a system of fleeting impressions, esp of natural light effects

the technique in art, literature, or music of conveying experience by capturing fleeting impressions of reality or of mood

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 impressionism

impressionism

1839 as a term in philosophy, from impression + -ism. Specifically with reference to the French art movement from 1882, from impressionist.

Culture definitions for impressionism

impressionism

A style of painting associated mainly with French artists of the late nineteenth century, such as Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Impressionist painting seeks to re-create the artist's or viewer's general impression of a scene. It is characterized by indistinct outlines and by small brushstrokes of different colors, which the eye blends at a distance. Soft, pastel colors appear frequently in impressionist paintings.