If someone is impassive or their face is impassive, they are not showing any emotion.
[written]
He searched Hill's impassive face for some indication that he understood.
Synonyms: unemotional, unmoved, emotionless, reserved More Synonyms of impassive
impassivelyadverb [ADVERB with verb]
The lawyer looked impassively at him and said nothing.
impassive in British English
(ɪmˈpæsɪv)
adjective
1.
not revealing or affected by emotion; reserved
2.
calm; serene; imperturbable
3. rare
unconscious or insensible
Derived forms
impassively (imˈpassively)
adverb
impassiveness (imˈpassiveness) or impassivity (ˌɪmpæˈsɪvɪtɪ)
noun
impassive in American English
(ɪmˈpæsɪv)
adjective
1.
not feeling pain; not liable to suffering; insensible
2.
not feeling or showing emotion; placid; calm
SYNONYMY NOTE: impassive means not having or showing any feeling or emotion, although it does not necessarilyconnote an incapability of being affected [his impassive face did not betray his anguish]; apathetic stresses an indifference or listlessness from which one cannot easily be stirredto feeling [an apathetic electorate]; UNRESOLVED CROSS REF implies an austere indifference to pleasure or pain and specifically suggests theability to endure suffering without flinching [he received the bad news with stoic calm]; stolid suggests dullness, obtuseness, or stupidity in one who is not easily moved or excited;, phlegmatic is applied to one who by temperament is not easily disconcerted or aroused
Derived forms
impassively (imˈpassively) (ˌɪmpəˈsɪvəti)
adverb
impassivity (ˌimpasˈsivity) (ˌɪmpæˈsɪvɪti)
noun or imˈpassiveness
Word origin
< in-2 + passive
Examples of 'impassive' in a sentence
impassive
She continued examining the documents with an impassive face.
Carlos Acosta No Way Home: A Cuban Dancer's Tale (2007)
His impassive, bearded face again cracks a smile.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The Danes look on with impassive surprise.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The apparently impassive human face in the huge anonymous war machine - but how did this pilot feel?
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It is about remaining impassive, keeping a clear head and plotting the next stage of the operation.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
That's a question for the two impassive figures who are walking slowly out of the heat haze.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
As he approached the Chancellor it was noticed that his lips were trembling slightly in his otherwise impassive face.
Christopher Hibbert DISRAELI: A Personal History (2004)
They were engaged in a mass synchronised dance, encouraged by two impassive men sitting in a van with loudspeakers on the roof.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But the labourer's son from Dagenham remained impassive.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It's always there in its place, calm and impassive.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But the labourer's son from Dagenham remained impassive as tens of thousands of voices shouted his name.
Leo McKinstry Sir Alf: A Major Reappraisal of the Life and Times of England's Greatest FootballManager (2006)
With his right hand on the mike, his left hand in his trousers, he remains impassive yet emits a palpable sense of loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
impassive
British English: impassive ADJECTIVE
If someone is impassive or their face is impassive, they are not showing any emotion.
He searched the man's impassive face for some indication that he understood.
American English: impassive
Brazilian Portuguese: impassível
Chinese: 无动于衷的
European Spanish: impasible
French: impassible
German: gelassen
Italian: impassibile
Japanese: 無表情な
Korean: 무표정한
European Portuguese: impassível
Latin American Spanish: impasible
(adjective)
Definition
not showing or feeling emotion
He searched the man's impassive face for some indication that he understood.
Synonyms
unemotional
Officials who dealt with Mr Suarez described him as cool, detached, and unemotional.
unmoved
She carried on criticizing me in this vein, but I was unmoved.
emotionless
He stood emotionless as he heard the judge pass sentence.
reserved
cool
He was marvellously cool, smiling as if nothing had happened.
calm
Try to keep calm and just tell me what happened.
composed
She was standing beside him, very calm and composed.
indifferent
People have become indifferent to the suffering of others.
self-contained
serene
She looked as calm and serene as always.
callous
aloof
He seemed aloof and detached.
stoical
He had been stoical at their parting.
unconcerned
apathetic
Many people feel apathetic about the candidates in both parties.
dispassionate
He spoke in a flat dispassionate tone.
unfazed (informal)
inscrutable
stolid
the stolid faces of the two detectives
unruffled
Anne had remained unruffled, very cool and controlled.
phlegmatic
She spoke in a flat, phlegmatic voice.
unfeeling
poker-faced (informal)
imperturbable
He was cool and aloof, and imperturbable.
insensible
impassible (rare)
unexcitable
insusceptible
unimpressible
Additional synonyms
in the sense of aloof
Definition
distant or haughty in manner
He seemed aloof and detached.
Synonyms
distant,
cold,
reserved,
cool,
formal,
remote,
forbidding,
detached,
indifferent,
chilly,
unfriendly,
unsympathetic,
uninterested,
haughty,
unresponsive,
supercilious,
unapproachable,
unsociable,
standoffish
in the sense of apathetic
Many people feel apathetic about the candidates in both parties.
Synonyms
uninterested,
passive,
indifferent,
sluggish,
unmoved,
stoic,
stoical,
unconcerned,
listless,
cold,
cool,
impassive,
unresponsive,
phlegmatic,
unfeeling,
unemotional,
torpid,
emotionless,
insensible
in the sense of calm
Definition
not showing or not feeling agitation or excitement