Meaning & use
impressed
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“impressed” is a form of “impress”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Feeling admiration or respect because of someone's skill, effort or achievement.
Grammar: Often followed by by or with: impressed by her talent, impressed with the results.
Patterns
- impressed by someone
- impressed with something
I was impressed by how quickly she learned the routine.
The judges were deeply impressed with his speech.
Customers were impressed by the fast service.
adjectivecomparableinformal
Used in the negative or ironically to say something did not seem remarkable.
Grammar: Frequently used in not impressed: she was not impressed.
Patterns
- not impressed
The teacher was not impressed by his excuses.
My brother wasn't impressed with the movie.
Critics were hardly impressed by the new design.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of impress: caused someone to feel admiration, or pressed a mark into something.
Grammar: Past form of impress: he impressed the interviewers.
Patterns
- impress someone with something
She impressed the interviewers with her preparation.
The artist impressed a pattern into the wet clay.
He impressed everyone by finishing first.
Word forms
| base | impress |
|---|---|
| third person singular | impresses |
| -ing form | impressing |
Common combinations
- impressed by
- I'm impressed by your dedication.
- impressed with
- We were impressed with the results.
- deeply impressed
- The audience was deeply impressed.
- favorably impressed
- The manager was favorably impressed by her résumé.
- not particularly impressed
- He was not particularly impressed by the view.
- suitably impressed
- She looked suitably impressed when he showed her the trophy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- admiring
- Admiring describes the feeling directly, while impressed focuses on being affected by something specific.
- moved
- Moved is emotional, whereas impressed is more about respect for ability.
- struck
- Struck suggests sudden strong notice, while impressed suggests lasting approval.
- awed
- Awed is stronger and suggests wonder mixed with respect.
Opposites
Word family
- impress verb
- to make someone admire
- impression noun
- an idea or feeling about someone
- impressive adjective
- causing admiration
- impressively adverb
- in an admirable way
- unimpressed adjective
- not admiring
Commonly confused: impressed or impressive?
impressed vs impressive
Impressive describes the thing that causes admiration, while impressed describes the person who feels it.
Practice
Which sentence is correct for someone who admired the new software?
Choose one answer.
Impressed describes the person who feels admiration and takes with or by. Impressive describes the thing, so the second option is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “impressed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.