impact

1. 1.

   the striking of one body against another

   Broadercontact

   Narrowerblowslam
2. 2.

   a forceful consequence; a strong effect

   “the book had an important impact on my thinking”

   “the book packs a wallop”

   Synonymswallop

   Broaderconsequence
3. 3.

   influencing strongly

   “they resented the impingement of American values on European culture”

   Synonymsimpingementencroachment

   Broaderinfluence
4. 4.

   the violent interaction of individuals or groups entering into combat

   “the armies met in the shock of battle”

   Synonymsshock

   Broaderfight

1. 1.

   press or wedge together; pack together

   Broaderwedge
2. 2.

   have an effect upon

   “Will the new rules affect me?”

   Synonymsaffectbear uponbear ontouch ontouch

   Broaderchange

   Narrowerstrike a blowrepercusstell onredoundstimulateprocesshydrolizetingequeerhit

Other forms of impact

plural

impacts·

past tense

impacted·

present participle

impacting·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about impact

What does impact mean?

impact means "the striking of one body against another". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in impact?

impact has 2 syllables: im-pact. The stress falls on "pact". In IPA it is /ˌɪmˈpækt/.

What is another word for impact?

Close synonyms include wallop, impingement, encroachment, shock, affect. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is impact a common word?

impact is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with impact?

2 words rhyme with impact. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.