impersonal

impersonal
[[t]ɪmpɜ͟ː(r)sən(ə)l[/t]]
1) ADJ-GRADED (disapproval) If you describe a place, organization, or activity as impersonal, you mean that it is not very friendly and makes you feel unimportant because it involves or is used by a large number of people.

Before then many children were cared for in large impersonal orphanages...

The health service has been criticized for being too impersonal.

2) ADJ-GRADED If you describe someone's behaviour as impersonal, you mean that they do not show any emotion about the person they are dealing with.

We must be as impersonal as a surgeon with his knife...

I gave Coe an impersonal stare.

Syn:
objective, dispassionate
Derived words:
impersonally ADV-GRADED

The doctor treated Ted gently but impersonally.

3) ADJ-GRADED An impersonal room or statistic does not give any information about the character of the person to whom it belongs or relates.

The rest of the room was neat and impersonal...

History reduces the carnage to impersonal numbers.


English dictionary. 2008.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • impersonal — IMPERSONÁL, Ă, impersonali, e, adj. Care nu se referă la nici o persoană; fig. lipsit de personalitate. ♦ (Despre verbe, forme şi construcţii verbale) Care exprimă o acţiune ce nu este atribuită nici unei persoane, care nu are subiect propriu zis …   Dicționar Român

  • Impersonal — Im*per son*al, a. [L. impersonalis; pref. im not + personalis personal: cf. F. impersonnel. See {Personal}.] Not personal; not representing a person; not having personality. [1913 Webster] An almighty but impersonal power, called Fate. Sir J.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • impersonal — [im pʉr′sə nəl] adj. [LL impersonalis] 1. not personal; specif., a) without connection or reference to any particular person [an impersonal comment] b) not existing as a person [an impersonal force] 2. not showing human feelings, esp. sympathy or …   English World dictionary

  • impersonal — adjetivo 1. Que no tiene personalidad: No me gusta la decoración impersonal de ese hotel. 2. Que no implica a una persona concreta, sino a todas en general: Hablo de forma impersonal, no me refiero a nadie en particular. 3. [Tratamiento de… …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • impersonal — (Del lat. impersonālis). 1. adj. Que no tiene o no manifiesta personalidad u originalidad. 2. Que no se aplica a nadie en particular. 3. Gram. Se dice de la oración que carece de sujeto o en la que este se omite por desconocido o irrelevante; p.… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Impersonal — Im*per son*al, n. That which wants personality; specifically (Gram.), an impersonal verb. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Impersonal — (Impersonell, v. lat.), unpersönlich; daher Impersonale, Verbum, welches kein persönliches Subject zuläßt, z.B. es regnet …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • impersonal — I (dispassionate) adjective candid, cold, cold blooded, detached, disinterested, dispassionate, frigid, general, impartial, indefinite, insensible, neuter, nonsubjective, objective, passionless, undetermined, unfeeling, unforthcoming, unjaundiced …   Law dictionary

  • impersonal — (adj.) mid 15c., a grammatical term, from L.L. impersonalis, from assimilated form of in not, opposite of (see IN (Cf. in ) (1)) + personalis personal (see PERSONAL (Cf. personal)). Sense of not connected with any person is from 1620s; that of… …   Etymology dictionary

  • impersonal — [adj] cold, unfriendly abstract, bureaucratic, businesslike, candid, cold blooded*, cold turkey*, colorless, cool, detached, disinterested, dispassionate, emotionless, equal, equitable, fair, formal, impartial, indifferent, inhuman, neutral,… …   New thesaurus

  • impersonal — ► ADJECTIVE 1) not influenced by or involving personal feelings. 2) featureless and anonymous. 3) not existing as a person. 4) Grammar (of a verb) used only with a formal subject (in English usually it) and expressing an action not attributable… …   English terms dictionary

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