impacted
Americanadjective
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tightly or immovably wedged in.
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Dentistry. noting a tooth so confined in its socket as to be incapable of normal eruption.
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driven together; tightly packed.
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densely populated or crowded; overcrowded.
an impacted school district.
adjective
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(of a tooth) unable to erupt, esp because of being wedged against another tooth below the gum
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(of a fracture) having the jagged broken ends wedged into each other
Other Word Forms
- nonimpacted adjective
- unimpacted adjective
Etymology
Origin of impacted
First recorded 1675–85; obsolete adjective impact (from Latin impāctus, past participle of impingere “to fasten, cause to collide, strike,” equivalent to im- “in” + pag-, variant stem of pangere “to drive in, plant firmly” + -tus past participle suffix) + -ed 2; see im- 1, impinge
Explanation
If your doctor tells you that something is impacted, that's not a good thing. It means wedged together and unable to move. Wisdom teeth are often impacted, which makes one question how wise they actually are. A fractured bone can be impacted as well, which means the two broken ends are wedged together. Perhaps you could say that your Christmas stocking is so jam packed and impacted with goodies that you can barely pull anything out — but that's about the only non-painful association with the word imaginable.
Vocabulary lists containing impacted
This Week In Words: October 5–11, 2019
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Top Ten Most Relevant Words from the Third Republican Debate, October 28, 2015
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Vocabulary from the Eleventh Republican Debate March 3, 2016
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
ServiceNow plunged after Q1 earnings met expectations, with subscription growth impacted by Middle East deal delays.
From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026
The company cited “strong medical cost management and favorable reserve development,” though it noted those gains were impacted by higher-than-normal medical utilization.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
Earnings during the most recent quarter were also impacted by cartel violence in Mexico and historic rainstorms in Hawaii, with the two markets together representing around 30% of the company’s capacity, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
Children are profoundly impacted by hunger, with consequences for mental health and development, among other things, extending far past childhood.
From Slate • Apr. 19, 2026
This crater is 1.2 kilometers in diameter and was probably produced 15,000 to 40,000 years ago when a lump of iron 25 meters across impacted the Earth at a speed of 15 kilometers per second.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
