1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

impressionability

noun

Definition of impressionabilitynext
as in credulity

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 impressionability Your stepson is a teenage boy, the definition of volatility and impressionability. — James Parker, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impressionability
  1. credulity
  2. gullibility
  3. idealism
  4. optimism
  5. unawareness
  6. ignorance
  7. credulousness
  8. carelessness
Noun
  • The earlier series has increasingly strained credulity by having its romance plots hinge on inequalities of gender and class, but seldom of race.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The idea that these two would have a five-minute-or-less breakup conversation, then plop down on the couch and happily embark on an acid trip together, strains credulity a little, even for this bizarre, codependent friend group.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of credulity
Noun
  • Members must accommodate themselves to its fictions, with varying mixtures of gullibility and cynicism; followers shown proof that the leader has lied may admire him all the more for his tactical cleverness.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Mason highlights – with levity and humor – how erroneous ideas, gullibility, and blinders can lead even people who should know better down rabbit holes.
    — Monitor reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 23 July 2026
Definition of gullibility
Noun
  • Sophie Okonedo and Queen Charlotte’s India Amarteifio play the title character, whose political idealism has curdled into middle-class ennui.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
  • There are some politics in Hard Labor, but seasoned with the irony of the worker, rather than the idealism of the intellectual.
    — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of idealism
Noun
  • But the problems that plagued Burnham’s predecessor, including over immigration, the economic impact of the Iran war and rising geopolitical tensions, cannot be fixed by optimism alone.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2026
  • For the continent’s filmmakers, there’s plenty of cause for optimism.
    — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of optimism
Noun
  • Have hypoglycemia unawareness – an absence of warning signs for high blood sugar.
    — Reed Berger-Fleishman, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Black enrollees reported the highest rate of unawareness of work requirements at 62%, compared to 56% among White enrollees and 54% among Hispanic enrollees.
    — Jesse Pines, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
Definition of unawareness
Noun
  • Instead of claiming ignorance of the song on social media, why not try a swift Google search instead.
    — Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Hartford has a distinguished tradition of standing against ignorance by supporting public education.
    — Nora Oakes Howard, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of ignorance
Noun
  • Her credulousness has actually served Fox as a legal defense, since a person has to know a statement was false or show reckless disregard for the truth in order to be held liable for defamation.
    — Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of credulousness
Noun
  • But that drop in intensity quickly veered into carelessness, with the defence failing to assert its composure amid loose passes and hapless communication mix-ups.
    — Chris McKenna, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Conflicts and tragedies are almost always the result of carelessness or accidents that spiral totally out of control.
    — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of carelessness

Browse Nearby Words

impression
impressionability
impressionable
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Impressionability.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impressionability. Accessed 30 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of epistemic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All