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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IMPRESSIONABLE

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pronounce IMPRESSIONABLE:

im PRESH un uh bull
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connect this word to others:

Here's the impressive Jennifer Garner and her impressionable friends in 13 Going On 30:

(Source)

Let's check out that word impressionable! I love it because it's clear, precise, and easy to understand. And, it helps convey even more meaning than words like in___uous ("open, innocent, and childlike") and g____ible ("easily lied to"): the impressionable person is not just open, innocent, childlike, and easily lied to, but also easily affected, easily molded, both intellectually and emotionally.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

definition:

Words like "press," "compress," "depress," "express" and "impress" trace back to the Latin premere, meaning "to push, to press, or to cover."

So, "impress" most literally means "to press into, to push (something) upon (someone)."

And an "impression" is something that seems to be pressed onto someone's mind, like an image, an idea, or an opinion.

That brings us to "impressionable," the word for people whose minds are easily changed or affected. That is, if you call people impressionable, you mean they're easy to influence, easy to persuade, or easily accepting of your own opinions.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "We were around ten years old and still impressionable;" "We were a couple of impressionable ten-year-olds."

Other forms: 

The noun is "impressionability." Or, if you prefer, "impressionableness." I do not!

how to use it:

Pick the clear, formal, semi-common word "impressionable" when you want to describe people as not just young, not just innocent, but also easily persuaded and easily molded.

You might talk about impressionable people, minds, or ages.

examples:

"To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that readers take personally. Many Americans read it at a young and impressionable age, and the story has clearcut, admirable heroes." 
  — Sarah Begley, Time, 14 July 2015

"I started caring about baseball in 1960, when I was 9. That year and four following years, the Yankees were in the World Series. It seemed an immutable fact of life, instilled in me at the most impressionable age... The seemingly permanent excellence of the Yankees was illusory, but I didn't know that." 
   — Gene Weingarten, Washington Post, 19 April 2018

has this page helped you understand "impressionable"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "impressionable" without saying "readily accepting new ideas" or "easily manipulated."

try it out:

Here's Eric Hathaway reminiscing about his friend Chris from their high school days on the cross-country team:

"Chris would use the spiritual aspect to try to motivate us... He'd tell us to think about all the evil in the world, all the hatred, and imagine ourselves running against the forces of darkness, the evil wall that was trying to keep us from running our best. He believed doing well was all mental, a simple matter of harnessing whatever energy was available. As impressionable high school kids, we were blown away by that kind of talk."

With this in mind as an example, think back to your own impressionable high school or middle school self, and talk about a person or an idea that impressed you. Did this impression eventually change, or does it still shape how you think or how you see the world?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Idiom Savant."

Flex your facility with familiar phrases by quickly pairing them off with words closely associated in meaning.

For example, you might pair the idiom "a cat has nine lives" with the word "resilient;" "water under the bridge" with "inconsequential;" and "when it rains, it pours" with "proliferate."

Try these today:

Pair these idioms...

   1. to fly too close to the sun
   2. to get off your high horse
   3. to go out with a bang
   4. to keep a low profile
   5. to keep your shirt on

With these words...

   A. equanimity
   B. humility
   C. Icarian
   D. Ozymandian
   E. reticent

To see the answers, scroll all the way down. 

review this word:

1. The exact opposite of IMPRESSIONABLE is UNIMPRESSIONABLE, meaning

A. perfect, hard to criticize, infallible.
B. calm, hard to rile up, not easily combustible.
C. self-determined, intractable, hard to persuade.

2. A _____, writes Carolyn Hax, "has one foot on the threshold into _____, one of the most dizzying, unnerving and impressionable times of our lives."

A. twelve-year-old .. adolescence
B. college graduate .. the work force
C. retiring professional .. late adulthood




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. A

From the game:

   1. to fly too close to the sun: Icarian
   2. to get off your high horse: humility
   3. to go out with a bang: Ozymandian
   4. to keep a low profile: reticent
   5. to keep your shirt on: equanimity

Are your answers different? No worries, as long as you can explain the connections you see.


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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