impact
impact Lexical Profile
impact Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A marked or powerful effect, influence, or impression that something has on a situation, person, or environment.
"The new environmental regulations had an immediate impact on local air quality."
The action of one object coming forcibly into physical contact with another; a forceful collision or shock.
"Modern car bumpers are engineered to absorb the force of a low-speed impact."
• verb
To have a strong or noticeable effect on someone or something.
"Rising interest rates will directly impact first-time homebuyers across the country."
To come into forcible physical contact with another object; to strike or collide with.
"Scientists calculated the exact angle at which the meteorite impacted the lunar surface."
To press, wedge, or pack firmly into a tight space (often used in medicine or dentistry of a tooth or mass).
"The dentist explained that the wisdom tooth had become tightly impacted against the adjacent molar."
Word Nuance & Usage
In pronunciation, the noun is stressed on the first syllable (IM-pakt) while the verb is stressed on the second syllable (im-PAKT). Although traditional style guides once objected to using 'impact' as a verb meaning 'to affect', this usage is now thoroughly established in standard business, academic, and general English.
• Rhymes for impact
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from Latin impactus, the past participle of impingere ('to drive in' or 'to strike against'), formed from in- ('into, upon') and pangere ('to fix, fasten, or drive in').