What does impress mean?

Definitions for impress
ɪmˈprɛs; ˈɪm prɛsim·press

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word impress.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. impress, impressmentverb

    the act of coercing someone into government service

  2. affect, impress, move, strikeverb

    have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

    "This child impressed me as unusually mature"; "This behavior struck me as odd"

  3. impressverb

    impress positively

    "The young chess player impressed her audience"

  4. impress, ingrain, instillverb

    produce or try to produce a vivid impression of

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

  5. impress, imprintverb

    mark or stamp with or as if with pressure

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

  6. print, impressverb

    reproduce by printing

  7. shanghai, impressverb

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

    "The men were shanghaied after being drugged"

  8. impress, yarn-dyeverb

    dye (fabric) before it is spun

Wiktionary

  1. impressnoun

    The act of impressing

  2. impressnoun

    An impression, and impressed image or copy of something

  3. impressnoun

    A stamp or seal used to make an impression

  4. impressnoun

    An impression on the mind, imagination etc.

  5. impressverb

    To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably

    You impressed me with your command of Urdu.

  6. impressverb

    To produce a vivid impression of (something)

    That first view of the Eiger impressed itself on my mind.

  7. impressverb

    To mark or stamp (something) using pressure

    We impressed our footprints in the wet cement.

  8. impressverb

    To compel (someone) to serve in a military force

    The press gang used to impress people into the Navy.

  9. impressverb

    To seize or confiscate (property) by force

    The liner was impressed as a troop carrier.

  10. impressverb

    To make an impression, to be impressive

    Henderson impressed in his first game as captain.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Impressnoun

    Etymology: from the verb.

    This weak impress of love is as a figure
    Trench'd in ice, which with an hour's heat
    Dissolves to water. William Shakespeare, Two Gent. of Verona.

    They having taken the impresses of the insides of these shells with that exquisite niceness, as to express even the finest lineaments of them. John Woodward, Nat. History.

    How objects are represented to myself I cannot be ignorant; but in what manner they are received, and what impresses they make upon the differing organs of another, he only knows that feels them. Joseph Glanvill, Sceps.

    God, surveying the works of the creation, leaves us this general impress or character upon them, that they were exceeding good. Robert South, Sermons.

    To describe emblazon'd shields,
    Impresses quaint, caparisons, and steeds,
    Bases, and tinsel trappings. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. ix.

    Ajax was here the voluntary, and you as under an impress. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida.

    Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
    Does not divide the Sunday from the week. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

    Your ships are not well mann'd;
    Your mariners are muliteers, reapers, people
    Ingrost by swift impress. William Shakespeare, Ant. and Cleopatra.

  2. To IMPRESSverb

    Etymology: impressum, Latin.

    So foul and ugly, that exceeding fear
    Their visages imprest, when they approached near. Fa. Qu.

    When God from earth form'd Adam in the East,
    He his own image on the clay imprest. John Denham.

    The conquering chief his foot imprest
    On the strong neck of that destructive beast. John Dryden, Ovid.

    We should dwell upon the arguments, and impress the motives of persuasion upon our own hearts, 'till we feel the force of them. Isaac Watts.

    His age has charms in it, his title more,
    To pluck the common bosoms on his side,
    And turn our imprest launces in our eyes
    Which do command them. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be, until
    Great Birnam-wood to Dunsinane's high hill
    Shall come against him.
    ———— That will never be:
    Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
    Unfix his earth-bound root? William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    Ormond should contribute all he could for the making those levies of men, and for impressing of ships. Edward Hyde.

ChatGPT

  1. impress

    Impress can be defined as making a strong, lasting, or favorable impact or influence on someone's mind, feelings or senses. It can also pertain to the act of imprinting a mark or design on a surface using pressure.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Impressverb

    to press, stamp, or print something in or upon; to mark by pressure, or as by pressure; to imprint (that which bears the impression)

  2. Impressverb

    to produce by pressure, as a mark, stamp, image, etc.; to imprint (a mark or figure upon something)

  3. Impressverb

    fig.: To fix deeply in the mind; to present forcibly to the attention, etc.; to imprint; to inculcate

  4. Impressnoun

    to take by force for public service; as, to impress sailors or money

  5. Impressverb

    to be impressed; to rest

  6. Impressnoun

    the act of impressing or making

  7. Impressnoun

    a mark made by pressure; an indentation; imprint; the image or figure of anything, formed by pressure or as if by pressure; result produced by pressure or influence

  8. Impressnoun

    characteristic; mark of distinction; stamp

  9. Impressnoun

    a device. See Impresa

  10. Impressnoun

    the act of impressing, or taking by force for the public service; compulsion to serve; also, that which is impressed

  11. Etymology: [See Imprest, Press to force into service.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Impress

    im-pres′, v.t. to press upon: to mark by pressure: to produce by pressure: to stamp: to fix deeply in the mind.—ns. Im′press, that which is made by pressure: stamp: likeness; Impressibil′ity.—adj. Impress′ible, susceptible.—n. Impress′ibleness.—adv. Impress′ibly.—ns. Impress′ion, the act or result of impressing: a single edition of a book: the effect of any object on the mind: idea: slight remembrance; Impressionabil′ity.—adj. Impress′ionable, able to receive an impression.—ns. Impress′ionism, a modern movement in art and literature, originating in France, its aim being to cast off the trammels of artistic tradition, and to look at nature in a fresh and original manner—it employs general effects, vigorous touches, and deals in masses of form and colour; Impress′ionist.—adv. Impressionis′tic.—adj. Impress′ive, capable of making an impression on the mind: solemn.—adv. Impress′ivelyns. Impress′iveness; Impress′ure (Shak.), impression.

  2. Impress

    im-pres′, v.t. to force into service, esp. the public service.—n. Im′press. [An altered spelling of imprest.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. impress

    To compel any person to serve.

British National Corpus

  1. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'impress' in Verbs Frequency: #843

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for impress »

  1. permiss

  2. premiss

  3. simpers

  4. mispers

  5. persism

How to pronounce impress?

How to say impress in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of impress in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of impress in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of impress in a Sentence

  1. Malachi Boyuls:

    I'd doubt his strategy was as much to go in attacking Trump as it was to impress upon viewers and the other candidates that these are serious times and serious issues, and we need a serious candidate to lead our country.

  2. The ASA:

    We understood that Urban Outfitters’ target market was young people and considered that using a noticeably underweight model was likely to impress upon that audience that the image was representative of the people who might wear Urban Outfitters’ clothing, and as being something to aspire to, we therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible.

  3. Mark S. Hertzog:

    There are authors who write to communicate, there are authors who write to impress themselves.

  4. Beth Kluttz:

    She thought she would impress the military by taking flying lessons. She had about 200 flying hours in, and flying a Piper Cub, and she thought that would impress the military and the Marine Corps, but when she got in there, they just put her behind the desk.

  5. Bryanna Reid:

    I hate to tell things in which I don't belive to impress people who are not on my mind so that they see my false image.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

impress#10000#16236#100000

Translations for impress

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"impress." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/impress>.

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    established or prearranged unalterably
    A soft-witted
    B foreordained
    C proprietary
    D adscripted

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