Meaning & use
impression
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Meanings
nouncountable
The opinion or feeling you form about someone or something, often from a first glance.
Grammar: Often followed by of or that: an impression of her, the impression that she was tired.
Patterns
- an impression of someone
- the impression that something
- make an impression on someone
She made a strong impression on the interviewers.
My first impression of the city was that it was noisy.
I got the impression that he did not want to talk.
nouncountable
A funny imitation of a famous person's voice or mannerisms.
Grammar: Usually follows do: he does an impression of the teacher.
Patterns
- do an impression of someone
He does a great impression of the prime minister.
The comedian's impression of a barking dog made everyone laugh.
She did an impression of her grandfather at the party.
nouncountabletechnical
A mark or shape left in a surface by pressure.
Grammar: Often used about prints or molds: an impression in the clay.
Patterns
- an impression in something
The heel left a deep impression in the wet sand.
The dentist made an impression of my teeth.
An impression of the seal was still visible in the wax.
Word forms
| plural | impressions |
|---|
Common combinations
- make a good impression
- He wore a suit to make a good impression.
- first impression
- Your first impression can be wrong.
- under the impression
- I was under the impression that lunch was free.
- leave a lasting impression
- The speech left a lasting impression on the audience.
- give the impression of
- She gave the impression of being calm, though she was nervous.
- do an impression
- He can do an impression of almost any teacher.
Synonyms and how they differ
- feeling
- Feeling is vaguer and more emotional, while impression usually comes from something observed.
- sense
- Sense suggests an instinctive awareness, while impression is more about the picture left by what you saw or heard.
- imitation
- Imitation is the general word for copying, while impression names the comic performance of a particular person.
- notion
- Notion is a loose idea that may not rest on any observation, whereas impression is based on what you experienced.
Word family
- impress verb
- to make someone admire you
- impressive adjective
- causing admiration
- impressionable adjective
- easily influenced
- impressionist noun
- a performer who imitates famous people
Commonly confused: impression or expression?
impression vs expression
An expression is how a face or phrase shows feeling, while an impression is what someone else forms in their mind.
Practice
I was under the ___ that the meeting had been moved to Friday.
Choose one answer.
Under the impression is a fixed phrase meaning to believe something, often wrongly. Expression, imitation and image do not combine with under the in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “impression”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.