Impersonal
[ɪm'pɜːs(ə)n(ə)l] or [ɪm'pɝsnl]
Definition
(adj.) having no personal preference; 'impersonal criticism'; 'a neutral observer' .
(adj.) not relating to or responsive to individual persons; 'an impersonal corporation'; 'an impersonal remark' .
Checked by Giselle--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Not personal; not representing a person; not having personality.
(n.) That which wants personality; specifically (Gram.), an impersonal verb.
Typist: Terrence
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See PERSONAL]
Checker: Ronnie
Definition
adj. not having personality: (gram.) not varied according to the persons.—n. Impersonal′ity.—adv. Imper′sonally.—v.t. Imper′sonāte to invest with personality or the bodily substance of a person: to ascribe the qualities of a person to: to personify: to assume the person or character of esp. on the stage.—adj. personified.—ns. Impersonā′tion; Imper′sonātor.
Inputed by Carter
Examples
- The deepest revolt implied in the term syndicalism is against the impersonal, driven quality of modern industry--against the destruction of that pride which alone distinguishes work from slavery. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The drops which lashed her face were not scorpions, but prosy rain; Egdon in the mass was no monster whatever, but impersonal open ground. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- An impersonal union that leaves one free. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- There is a real impersonal me, that is beyond love, beyond any emotional relationship. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It is something much more impersonal and harder--and rarer. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It's only you, the generous creatures, whom I envy, said Mr. Skimpole, addressing us, his new friends, in an impersonal manner. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- There were depths of passion when one became impersonal and indifferent, unemotional. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- But he was really impersonal, he had the fineness of an elegant piece of machinery. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- That sense of an impersonal machine going on with endless reiteration is an experience that imaginative politicians face. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- He humanizes a strange country; he is a friend at court; he represents the legitimate kindliness of government, standing between the poor and the impersonal, uninviting majesty of the law. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- If you are speaking on my behalf, I can assure you that no question can be more indifferent and impersonal to me than second marriage. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- What is anticipated is objective and impersonal; to-morrow's rain; the possibility of being run over. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- If I claim full justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a thing beyond myself. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Ah, your poor bachelor with his impersonal club fare, alternating with the equally impersonal CUISINE of the dinner-party! Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- His passion was awful to her, tense and ghastly, and impersonal, like a destruction, ultimate. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The little conflict into which they had fallen had torn their consciousness and left them like two impersonal forces, there in contact. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Yet there is a valid distinction between knowledge which is objective and impersonal, and thinking which is subjective and personal. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
Inputed by Carter