impersonal
Americanadjective
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not personal; without reference or connection to a particular person.
an impersonal remark.
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having no personality; devoid of human character or traits.
an impersonal deity.
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lacking human emotion or warmth.
an impersonal manner.
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Grammar.
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(of a verb) having only third person singular forms and rarely if ever accompanied by an expressed subject, as Latin pluit “it is raining,” or regularly accompanied by an empty subject word, as English to rain in It is raining.
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(of a pronoun or pronominal reference) indefinite, as French on “one.”
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noun
adjective
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without reference to any individual person; objective
an impersonal assessment
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devoid of human warmth or sympathy; cold
an impersonal manner
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not having human characteristics
an impersonal God
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grammar (of a verb) having no logical subject. Usually in English the pronoun it is used in such cases as a grammatical subject, as for example in It is raining
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grammar (of a pronoun) not denoting a person
Other Word Forms
- impersonality noun
- impersonally adverb
- superimpersonal adjective
- superimpersonally adverb
Etymology
Origin of impersonal
From the Late Latin word impersōnālis, dating back to 1510–20. See im- 2, personal
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.
Though the technology can help managers express themselves more effectively, it can also make basic factual mistakes or come off as generic and impersonal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
The imperatives of SEO are what helped popularize a slick and impersonal style in the first place, Smith points out.
From Slate • Aug. 20, 2025
Sophie is concerned that interactions between boys and girls are distant and impersonal in Ben's peer group.
From BBC • Mar. 29, 2025
History is driven not only by vast impersonal forces like geography and economics but also by contingency, that is, the individual actions of men and women.
From Salon • Mar. 5, 2025
The minister, who took his ecumenical and—some felt—slightly impersonal remarks from Saint Paul’s sermon on Love from First Corinthians, talked for about half an hour.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
