impersonal
/ɪmˈpɝsənəl/ adjective, noun
Forms impersonals
- adjective Not personal; not representing a person; not having personality.
- adjective Lacking warmth or emotion; cold. “She sounded impersonal as she gave her report of the Nazi death camps.”
- adjective (grammar, of a verb or other word) Not having a subject, or having a third person pronoun without an antecedent. “The verb “rain” is impersonal in sentences like “It’s raining.””
- noun (grammar) An impersonal word or construct.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From French impersonnel, from Latin impersōnālis, from im- (“not”) + persōnālis (“personal”), equivalent to im- + personal.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Not personal; not representing a person; not having personality.
- noun That which wants personality; specifically (Gram.), an impersonal verb.
Etymology [L. impersonalis; pref. im- not + personalis personal: cf. F. impersonnel. See Personal.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “impersonal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details