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impassive

UK/ɪmˈpæsɪv/US/ɪmˈpæsɪv/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,071 of 15,258neutral

Impassive means showing no feeling at all in the face. An impassive stare.

It describes the surface rather than the feeling, so an impassive person may be in turmoil. It is read as calm in one culture and as coldness in another, which causes real misunderstanding.

Definitions of impassive

  1. 1adjectiveimpassiveShowing no feeling at all in the face.C1

    “He remained impassive through the whole of the verdict.”

impassive is a quality.

Where it comes from

Im-, not, plus passive, from Latin pati, to suffer or feel.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *peh₁-

  2. English, today

    impassive

From im- + passive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

impassive in the wild

  • Lowe is known for his impassive stage persona, standing still behind a keyboard, wearing a hat and dark glasses.

    Chris Lowe

  • Etsuko Toganoo is a retired Japanese badminton player noted for her consistency and impassive demeanor, who won numerous international titles during the 1970s.

    Etsuko Toganoo

  • The statue is a sitting impassive king with a crown, allowing a large snake to feed from his breast.

    Fountain of the Genius of Fieravecchia

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.