Meanings
comparative more impassive · superlative most impassive
- Having, or revealing, no emotion.
It was a victory that clearly meant so much to Van Gaal as the normally impassive manager raced from his seat in the technical area to celebrate Lingard's winner.
2016 May 22, Phil McNulty, “Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United”, in BBCSynonyms: apathetic, phlegmatic, unemotional, alexithymic, apathistical, clinical, dull, phlegmatic
- Still or motionless.
Synonyms: inanimate, inert, at rest, dull, inanimate, lifeless, motionless, sedent
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving, or revealing, no emotion.
adjectiveStill or motionless.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited
adjectivedeliberately impassive in manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From im- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + passive (“which is, or is capable of being, acted on; (obsolete) which suffers, or may suffer, pain, death, etc.”, adjective).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀπαθής
- ἀπαθής (apathḗs)having, or revealing, no emotion
Bulgarian безстрастен
- безстрастен (bezstrasten)having, or revealing, no emotion
Catalan impertèrrit, impàvid
- impertèrrithaving, or revealing, no emotion
- impàvidhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- imperturbablehaving, or revealing, no emotion
- impassiblehaving, or revealing, no emotion
Czech chladný, netečný
- chladnýhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- netečnýhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- lhostejnýhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- flegmatickýhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- klidnýstill or motionless
Dutch onbewogen, gevoelloos
- onbewogenhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- gevoellooshaving, or revealing, no emotion
- ongeëmotioneerdhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- onverstoorbaarhaving, or revealing, no emotion
Finnish tunteeton, välinpitämätön
- tunteetonhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- välinpitämätönhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- liikkumatonstill or motionless
French impassible
- impassiblehaving, or revealing, no emotion
German gefühllos, gleichmütig
- gefühlloshaving, or revealing, no emotion
- gleichmütighaving, or revealing, no emotion
- teilnahmsloshaving, or revealing, no emotion
- leidenschaftsloshaving, or revealing, no emotion
- unbewegtstill or motionless
Greek απαθής
- απαθής (apathís)having, or revealing, no emotion
Hungarian közömbös, egykedvű
- közömböshaving, or revealing, no emotion
- egykedvűhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- érzéketlenhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- mozdulatlanstill or motionless
Irish fuarchúiseach
- fuarchúiseachhaving, or revealing, no emotion
Italian impassibile
- impassibilehaving, or revealing, no emotion
Japanese 無感動な, 平然とした
- 無感動な (mukandōna)having, or revealing, no emotion
- 平然とした (hēzentoshita)still or motionless
Māori whakaririka
- whakaririkastill or motionless
Portuguese impassível, imperturbável
- impassívelhaving, or revealing, no emotion
- imperturbávelhaving, or revealing, no emotion
Spanish impasible, impertérrito
- impasiblehaving, or revealing, no emotion
- impertérritohaving, or revealing, no emotion
Turkish duyarsız
- duyarsızhaving, or revealing, no emotion
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with impassive
All rhymes →Cite this entry
impassive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impassive
“impassive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impassive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “impassive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impassive.
Source: impassive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.