Meaning & use
negative impact
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A harmful or unwelcome effect that something has on a person, group, situation or the environment.
Grammar: Used with a, the or have: have a negative impact on something.
Patterns
- have a negative impact on something
- the negative impact of something
Late-night screen time has a negative impact on sleep.
The factory closure had a negative impact on the town.
Researchers measured the negative impact of noise on learning.
Word forms
| plural | negative impacts |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a negative impact on
- Stress can have a negative impact on health.
- significant negative impact
- There was a significant negative impact on sales.
- minimize the negative impact
- Planners tried to minimize the negative impact.
- reduce the negative impact
- New filters reduce the negative impact of pollution.
- potential negative impact
- We reviewed the potential negative impact.
Synonyms and how they differ
- adverse effect
- Adverse effect is more formal and common in medicine and law.
- harm
- Harm is plainer and stresses damage rather than a general effect.
- downside
- Downside is informal and refers to a disadvantage in a decision.
- detrimental effect
- Detrimental effect is formal and suggests lasting damage.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: negative impact or effect vs. affect?
negative impact vs effect vs. affect
Effect is the noun for the result, while affect is the verb for influencing; negative impact is a noun phrase like negative effect.
Practice
The new highway had a negative impact ___ nearby wildlife.
Choose one answer.
The pattern is impact on something. To, at and of are not used with this noun in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “negative impact”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.