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impact

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A strong effect on someone or something.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihmpakt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪmˈpækt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. figurativeproscribed

    A significant or strong influence or effect.

  2. The striking of one body against another

  3. The force or energy of a collision of two objects.

verb

  1. transitivefigurativeproscribed

    To significantly or strongly influence or affect; to have an impact on.

  2. transitive

    To collide or strike, the act of impinging.

  3. transitive

    To compress; to compact; to press into something or pack together.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (figurative, proscribed) A significant or strong influence or effect.

Used this way, impact is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Formal and precise

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use impact

  • “The book had an important impact on my thinking.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

impact statementsignificant impactnegative impacteconomic impactmajor impactpositive impactimpact assessmentdirect impact

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • impact printernounCompound term

    A printer that prints by mechanical impacts.

  • impacted fracturenounCompound term

    Fracture in which one broken end is wedged into the other broken end.

  • impacted toothnounCompound term

    A disorder in which a tooth is so crowded in its socket that it cannot erupt normally.

Usage

ProfessionalNeutral

Widely used as a verb in business writing, but "affect" is preferred in careful formal prose.

Common: “the impact of the change”

Less natural: “impacted onto sales”

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to significantly or strongly influence or affect

shockaffecttouchbear onbear upontouch on

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.