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Impress Very Common

Impress has 10 different meanings across 2 categories:

Noun · Verb

Definitions
Noun
1

the act of coercing someone into government service

"The king's decree to impress sailors was met with fierce resistance from the coastal towns."

2

The act of impressing.

"The sheer magnitude of the cathedral left everyone in a state of deep impression."

Verb
1

have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

"This child impressed me as unusually mature"

"This behavior struck me as odd"

"he was dumb-struck by the news"

"her comments struck a sour note"

2

impress positively

"The young chess player impressed her audience"

3

produce or try to produce a vivid impression of

"Mother tried to ingrain respect for our elders in us"

4

mark or stamp with or as if with pressure

"To make a batik, you impress a design with wax"

5

reproduce by printing

"The old printer struggled to impress the fine details onto the delicate paper."

6

take (someone) against his will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship

"The men were shanghaied after being drugged"

7

dye (fabric) before it is spun

"The factory used an ancient technique to impress intricate patterns onto silk threads before they were woven into fabric."

8

To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably.

"Her brilliant presentation impressed the judges so much that they offered her an immediate job."

In plain English: To impress means to make someone feel really impressed by what you do or say.

"The magician's amazing tricks impressed everyone in the audience."

Usage: Use impress when you want to show that someone has made a strong, favorable impression on another person, rather than simply being noticed or admired. Avoid confusing this verb with the noun form of the same spelling; they serve different grammatical roles in a sentence.

Example Sentences
"The magician's amazing tricks impressed everyone in the audience." verb
"She wore her favorite dress to impress her new colleagues at work." verb
"The magician tried to impress the audience with his amazing tricks." verb
"His hard work eventually impressed the manager enough for a promotion." verb
See Also
impressionistic impressed write knock someone's socks off military strongly impresses impressive
Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
seizure affect change surface write kidnap dye
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
infect surprise impress awaken engrave strike dumb zap jar hit home smite cloud pierce sweep away disturb touch move sadden alienate prepossess wow stamp emboss letter typeset prove offset overprint cyclostyle boldface italicize

Origin

The word "impress" comes from the Latin verb imprimere, which literally meant to press something into a surface. It entered English through Middle French and Old French as impresser before evolving into its current meaning of making a deep impression on someone's mind or character.

Rhyming Words
ess 1ess ress ness tess hess kess wess jess fess yess sess less bess cess mess guess 1aess gless cress
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