IMPRESSION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does impression mean? 

• IMPRESSION (noun)
  The noun IMPRESSION has 9 senses:

1. a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

2. an outward appearance

3. a clear and telling mental image

4. a concavity in a surface produced by pressing

5. a symbol that is the result of printing or engraving

6. all the copies of a work printed at one time

7. (dentistry) an imprint of the teeth and gums in wax or plaster

8. an impressionistic portrayal of a person

9. the act of pressing one thing on or into the surface of another

  Familiarity information: IMPRESSION used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPRESSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A vague idea in which some confidence is placed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

belief; feeling; impression; notion; opinion

Context example:

I had a feeling that she was lying

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impression"):

presence (the impression that something is present)

effect (an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived))

first blush (at the first glimpse or impression)

hunch; intuition; suspicion (an impression that something might be the case)

Derivation:

impressionistic (of or relating to or based on an impression rather than on facts or reasoning)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An outward appearance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

effect; impression

Context example:

she retained that bold effect in her reproductions of the original painting

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

appearance; visual aspect (outward or visible aspect of a person or thing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impression"):

image (the general impression that something (a person or organization or product) presents to the public)

mark (the impression created by doing something unusual or extraordinary that people notice and remember)

tout ensemble (a total impression or effect of something made up of individual parts)

figure (the impression produced by a person)

Derivation:

impressionistic (of or relating to or based on an impression rather than on facts or reasoning)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A clear and telling mental image

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

impression; mental picture; picture

Context example:

the events left a permanent impression in his mind

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

image; mental image (an iconic mental representation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A concavity in a surface produced by pressing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

depression; impression; imprint

Context example:

he left the impression of his fingers in the soft mud

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

concave shape; concavity; incurvation; incurvature (a shape that curves or bends inward)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impression"):

dimple (a small natural hollow in the cheek or chin)

channel; groove (a long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record))

dimple (any slight depression in a surface)

dip (a depression in an otherwise level surface)

dent; incision; prick; scratch; slit (a depression scratched or carved into a surface)

droop; sag (a shape that sags)

crease; crinkle; furrow; line; seam; wrinkle (a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface)

chap; crack; cranny; crevice; fissure (a long narrow depression in a surface)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A symbol that is the result of printing or engraving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

impression; stamp

Context example:

he put his stamp on the envelope

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

symbol (an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impression"):

embossment; imprint (an impression produced by pressure or printing)

seal (a stamp affixed to a document (as to attest to its authenticity or to seal it))

Sense 6

Meaning:

All the copies of a work printed at one time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

impression; printing

Context example:

they ran off an initial printing of 2000 copies

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

publication (a copy of a printed work offered for distribution)

Domain category:

printing; printing process (reproduction by applying ink to paper as for publication)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impression"):

mackle (a printed impression that is blurred or doubled)

proof; test copy; trial impression ((printing) an impression made to check for errors)

edition (the form in which a text (especially a printed book) is published)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(dentistry) an imprint of the teeth and gums in wax or plaster

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the dentist took an impression for use in preparing an inlay

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

imprint (a device produced by pressure on a surface)

Domain category:

dental medicine; dentistry; odontology (the branch of medicine dealing with the anatomy and development and diseases of the teeth)

Sense 8

Meaning:

An impressionistic portrayal of a person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he did a funny impression of a politician

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

characterization; enactment; personation; portrayal (acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture)

Derivation:

impressionistic (relating to or characteristic of Impressionism)

impressionistic (of or relating to or based on an impression rather than on facts or reasoning)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The act of pressing one thing on or into the surface of another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he watched the impression of the seal on the hot wax

Hypernyms ("impression" is a kind of...):

press; pressing; pressure (the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure)

Derivation:

impress (mark or stamp with or as if with pressure)

 Context examples 

He took the boots from the bag, and compared the impressions of each of them with marks upon the ground.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had a last impression of red cheeks, blue rippling beard, and intolerant eyes, as he waved me out of the room.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I took an impression of his key.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But finding them free and easy, she was so herself, and made a good impression.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I had long had the impression that since I could nowhere find you, you must be dead.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Though I have forgot the exact terms, I have a perfect impression of the general meaning.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Somewhere, stored away in the recesses of his mind and vaguely remembered, was the impression that there were people who washed their teeth every day.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

My impression is, that I was in a state of confusion about it, and, oscillating between the two points, touched neither.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Such was the impression of strength I gathered from this man who paced up and down.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It was evident that he had not reasoned the impression.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)