as in performer
a person who imitates another's voice and mannerisms for comic effect
a celebrated impressionist who can do enough rapid-fire imitations to populate an entire stage with characters
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Recent Examples of impressionist
Esther Zuckerman, The Atlantic, 6 Apr. 2025
Chloe Fineman is becoming Saturday Night Live's resident master impressionist.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2025
Douglas Markowitz, Miami Herald, 19 Dec. 2025
Or the paint daubs of an impressionist painting.
—Alexis Benveniste, Architectural Digest, 21 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impressionist
Noun
In last night’s cold open, the SNL cast member James Austin Johnson, the show’s resident Donald Trump impressionist, responded to the dig.
—Esther Zuckerman, The Atlantic, 6 Apr. 2025
Chloe Fineman is becoming Saturday Night Live's resident master impressionist.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
O’Neal is known for both his neo-impressionist paintings and for large-scale installations of souvenir caricature figurines reflecting on the historic commodification of Black creativity.
—Douglas Markowitz, Miami Herald, 19 Dec. 2025
Or the paint daubs of an impressionist painting.
—Alexis Benveniste, Architectural Digest, 21 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impressionist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impressionist
Noun
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The 30-year-old from Venezuela pitched out of the bullpen early on but has been a steady performer and mostly a reliable winner since moving into the rotation exclusively in 2022.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Jan. 2026
-
The episode is the first of the new year, returning from the holiday break with A$AP Rocky in his debut as an SNL musical performer.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
14 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Critics responded enthusiastically to Stewart’s impressionistic storytelling and casting Imogen Poots as Yuknavitch.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
8 Jan. 2026
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Think of Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Chanel, a collection brimming with joy that blew florals up to impressionistic proportions.—
Rosie Jarman,
Vogue,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The actor gave him the tickets after a video of Mamoud diving into a snowbank went viral.—
Paul Burton,
CBS News,
13 Jan. 2026
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Given the actors' previous antics on the podcast, however, there's a big question mark over how sincere Glassman's new comments are.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Like a director manning a film dolly, Kehlmann pans from one perspective to another—including those of Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks, two glamorous actors whom Pabst discovered—to give an expressionistic sense of the people and the forces shaping his life.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
4 Dec. 2025
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In nearly all these cases, there remains a sense of the uncanny, which makes the more recent works in the restaged show noteworthy for their comparably insistent, sometimes expressionistic representation of a warped realism.—
Tim Griffin,
Artforum,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Johnson, a 54-year-old entertainer who hosts gospel brunches and soul nights in Inglewood according to his social media, did not respond to messages or a letter left at his home.—
Rebecca Ellis,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Jan. 2026
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Over the course of 120 shows, the entertainer’s gross ticket sales topped more than $100 million.—
Mark Gray,
PEOPLE,
31 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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One of music’s greatest cosmic ironies is how ground zero for the expressionist rage known as death metal is located in easy driving distance from the Most Magical Place on Earth.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
19 Nov. 2025
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His views of their unconventional garments are painterly and romantic—expressionist evocations rather than detailed transcriptions of the clothes.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The success spurred other companies to open their models and shifted perceptions of China’s AI landscape from imitator to innovator.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
31 Dec. 2025
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Despite many aspirants and imitators, there really hasn’t been anything like it since.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Few people would consider a career as a regional, impersonator-style vocalist to be worthwhile; even fewer would, having attained such a career, try to make themselves into something more than a novelty act.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
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Song Sung Blue centers on Mike Sardina (Jackman), a recovering alcoholic, Vietnam veteran and small-time musician working as a mechanic to support his love for performing, and Claire Stengl (Hudson), a struggling single mother who moonlights as a Patsy Cline impersonator.—
Robert Lang,
Deadline,
5 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impressionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impressionist. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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