1
2

Synonym Chooser

How is the word impassive distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of impassive are apathetic, phlegmatic, stoic, and stolid. While all these words mean "unresponsive to something that might normally excite interest or emotion," impassive stresses the absence of any external sign of emotion in action or facial expression.

met the news with an impassive look

When is apathetic a more appropriate choice than impassive?

The synonyms apathetic and impassive are sometimes interchangeable, but apathetic may imply a puzzling or deplorable indifference or inertness.

charitable appeals met an apathetic response

When is it sensible to use phlegmatic instead of impassive?

Although the words phlegmatic and impassive have much in common, phlegmatic implies a temperament or constitution hard to arouse.

a phlegmatic man unmoved by tears

Where would stoic be a reasonable alternative to impassive?

The words stoic and impassive are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, stoic implies an apparent indifference to pleasure or especially to pain often as a matter of principle or self-discipline.

was resolutely stoic even in adversity

When could stolid be used to replace impassive?

The words stolid and impassive can be used in similar contexts, but stolid implies a habitual absence of interest, responsiveness, or curiosity.

stolid workers wedded to routine

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impassive The calm pool, impassive and lovely, kept tempting me. Hazlitt, 6 Aug. 2025 The production of concrete consumes enormous resources to create structures that will never last as long as the ancient ones the film contrasts them with, but that’s not a context the impassive footage conveys. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2025 Blount, who appeared wearing a white button-down shirt and tie, his hands shackled in front of him, his bulging gut and beige tie spilling over his beige pants, appeared impassive and refused to meet his victim’s gaze as Rothschild addressed him personally. Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 10 July 2025 Director and screenwriter Brian Koppelman returns as the wonderfully impassive numbers man to Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), a guy everyone simply refers to as Computer. Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for impassive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impassive
Adjective
  • Maybe masculinity still does mean taking care of and protecting your partner, being the breadwinner and remaining stoic all the same.
    Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
  • During his first postgame press conference at UNC, Bill Belichick maintained the stoic demeanor that became synonymous with his lengthy run with the New England Patriots.
    Staff, FOXNews.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • In their place were mostly blank walls and eggshell hues.
    Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
  • And for several seemingly interminable minutes, POTUS is absent, his video screen in the Situation Room a blank square.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Bale ran to the corner of the pitch, and, having been an expressionless bystander for much of the evening, shouted in ecstasy.
    Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2022
  • The company poured $10 billion into its Reality Labs division last year, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized last week after posting a selfie that showed an expressionless version of his avatar in front of the Eiffel Tower.
    Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2022
Adjective
  • Not at all motionless essence, but endless motion.
    Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The video, which bears a watermark suggesting it was livestreamed on the video platform Kick, showed Jackson straddling Smith before repeatedly punching him in the face and the side of his head, even when Smith was lying motionless.
    Ben Morse, CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Acclaimed country musician Orville Peck will make his film debut in Street Fighter as the enigmatic Vega, a masked fighter with a freaky set of Freddy Krueger claws.
    Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Sep. 2025
  • One of Al Pacino’s finest performances of the 1970s — which, with the Godfather films and Serpico, is an absurd hot hand — is as the enigmatic, wild-eyed Sonny, a man who performs a desperate bank robbery with his partner (the late John Cazale, by turns heartbreakingly clueless and dopily funny).
    Christina Newland, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Impassive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impassive. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on impassive

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!