IMPASSIVE


Meaning of IMPASSIVE in English

ə̇m, (ˈ)im+ adjective

Etymology: in- (I) + passive

1. : devoid of passion, feeling, or receptivity to impression:

a. archaic : unsusceptible to pain, suffering, injury, or harm : invulnerable

b. : unsusceptible to physical feeling : insensible , inanimate

a dial cut in impassive stone — Virginia Woolf

c. : unsusceptible to or destitute of emotion : unimpressionable

the violet pallor of death … enveloped her in an impassive remoteness — Ellen Glasgow

a large dull impassive man

2. : giving no sign of feeling or emotion : expressionless

beneath a reserved and impassive surface, a highly nervous and sensitive person — Havelock Ellis

a cold impassive stare — Charles Dickens

3. : not moving in any way : motionless

we can load up a piece of amber … with the greatest possible excess of negative charge, and still it remains absolutely impassive in the presence of a magnet — K.K.Darrow

Synonyms:

stoic , apathetic , phlegmatic , stolid : impassive applies to one who shows no passion, emotion, sensation, or noticeable interest in situations in which such a reaction might be expected

the veil of impassive reserve with which I concealed the whole of my intimate personal life — Havelock Ellis

I watched the man's face while Nelson was relating the story, but he remained impassive, showing neither interest in nor concern for our plight — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall

stoic may suggest an indifference to pain or pleasure, perhaps through a conscious schooling of oneself in fortitude

it sums up not only the cataclysm of a world, but also the stoic and indomitable temper that endures it — J.L.Lowes

a stoic atmosphere of fortitude in adversity — Orville Prescott

apathetic may describe a puzzling, remiss, or blameworthy indifference or a preoccupation with something else that precludes normal interest and reactions

enforcement of the liquor laws was lax, and sentiment was apathetic to the evils of excessive drinking — C.A.Dinsmore

the row of stolid, dull, vacant plowboys, ungainly in build, uncomely in face, lifeless, apathetic — Samuel Butler †1902

phlegmatic describes a temperament or disposition not given to ready emotional reaction or similar response

the religious mysticism that lurked in the heart of primitive Puritanism found no response in his phlegmatic soul — V.L.Parrington

stolid implies an accustomed heavy or cloddish obtuse inperceptive and incurious lack of interest, emotion, or other response

an agricultural parish, peopled by stolid Saxon rustics, in whom the temperature of religious zeal was little, if at all, above absolute zero — Aldous Huxley

watched for an expression of hatred, or pity, or horror, on the faces of the multitude. No emotion whatsoever was displayed — nothing but stolid indifference — V.G.Heiser

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.