impression
/ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/
"impression" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“impression” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,950 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,950
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The indentation or depression made by the pressure of one object on or into another.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | impression |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #3,950 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “impression” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for impression is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,950 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for impression, with forms such as "immpression", "imperssion", and "imppression". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "impressive", "impressions", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French impression, from Latin impressio. Equivalent to impress + -ion. The correct English form is impression, spelled I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The indentation or depression made by the pressure of one object on or into another.
- 2The overall effect of something, e.g., on a person.
- 3A vague recalling of an event, a belief.
- 4An impersonation, an imitation of the mannerisms of another individual.
- 5An outward appearance.
- 6A performance metric representing an instance where a post or ad is shown once.
- 7The first coat of colour, such as the priming in house-painting etc.
- 8A print on paper from a wood block, metal plate, etc.
- 9The vivid perception of something as it is experienced, in contrast to ideas or thoughts drawn from memory or the imagination.
- 10set of copies of a publication printed at one time having the same content, layout, pagination, etc.
Etymology
From Old French impression, from Latin impressio. Equivalent to impress + -ion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: immpression,imperssion,imppression,impresion,impresison,impressino,impressionn,impressoin,imprestion,imprression,imprsesion,imrpession,ipmression,mipression
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of impression - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “impression”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “impressive” - see the side-by-side comparison. impression vs impressive
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.