![]() ![]() When added to a verb, -ful has the meaning “apt to” or “able to,” as in mournful, wakeful, forgetful, and worshipful. But if impactful is indeed derived from the verb rather than the noun-which is not a certainty-there is nothing ungrammatical about that. The aversion to impactful is reinforced by the distaste some people have for its root impact, especially when that word is used as a verb. Both of these senses of -ful work perfectly well with the noun impact. In other common adjectives, -ful can even be glossed as “causing feelings of,” as in wonderful and dreadful. Instead, the suffix is interpreted as “having” or “characterized by,” as in beautiful, lawful, or graceful. In fact, as the Oxford English Dictionary points out, the “full of” sense is considerably weakened in a large number of these -ful adjectives. But impactful, when it entered English in the mid-1960s, was formed and construed in the same way as other well-established adjectives ending in -ful. Some justify their scorn by saying that the word lacks the original meaning of the suffix -ful -“full of”- as in remorseful or wrathful. According to its critics, the word exemplifies “bad, ugly usage.” They call it “barbarous,” dismiss it as “a meaningless buzzword,” and hate it so much that they extend their contempt of the word to contempt for its users. However, if you use impactful, you will help establish it as part of the English language.Impactful is one of those words that somehow arouse intense disdain, especially among editors and other would-be guardians of English. What do you think? Does impactful stand shoulder to shoulder with other words in the dictionary or should it be removed and forgotten? If you feel uneasy about its origins, opt for influential. In fact, the same dictionary defines impact as “a marked influence.” Influential, on the other hand, which means “having great influence on someone or something,” seems quite close to impactful. Therefore, effective is not an exact synonym. Then, ask yourself whether they are exact synonyms of impactful or not.Įffective means “successful in producing a desired or intended result.” Could something have a major effect without achieving the intended result? Definitely. Let’s define those two terms from the same source. One blogger who calls herself the Sassy Librarian argues that English never needed impactful: “When some advertising dolt was groping for the word ‘effective’ or ‘influential,’ ‘impactful’ popped into her/his head then tumbled out of her/his mouth.” In short, she argues that impactful is a frivolous word because effective and influential fulfill the same communicative purpose. After all, a lawful act isn’t “full of law.” rebuts this argument by pointing out that -ful also can be interpreted as “having” or “characterized by,” as in the word lawful. For some, this is sufficient reason to say impactful is not a word. However, “full of impact” and “having the quality of impact” sound strange. “Having the quality of beauty” sounds fine, so beautiful is acceptable, too. To a native speaker’s ear, “full of doubt” sounds fine, so doubtful is uncontroversial. ![]() that has been smuggled in through the back door of our collective consciousness.” Why mangled? The suffix simply means “full of” or “having the quality of.” Other adjectives are formed by adding the suffix -ful to a noun. On Quora, one commenter called it “a mangled. But plenty of other people can’t stand it. The Debate: Is Anything Wrong With Impactful? Everything we do should be impactful, but we don’t have to do every impactful thing. You don’t just want to be another think tank. Impactful Meaningįirst, how is impactful defined? According to Oxford Dictionaries, impactful is an adjective that means “having a major impact or effect.” Notice its use in these quotes from the media:īut since it’s the summer, and since we can, here’s a look at arguments for the most impactful player and coach in each conference’s hunt for a spot in the sport’s final four. Discover why this word gets picked on and decide for yourself if the criticism is valid. In particular, they find fault with impactful. If you want to substitute another word for impactful, use a synonym such as influential, powerful, or effective.Īre all the words in the dictionary equal? Some people feel that certain words are better than others. Yes, impactful is a word, but it’s likely to annoy at least some of your readers. ![]() Some critics reject impactful as an illogical, unnecessary, and clumsy piece of jargon.Impactful emerged in the 1960s as an adjective meaning “manifesting a great effect or impact.”. ![]()
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