impersonal

[ im-pur-suh-nl ]
/ ɪmˈpɜr sə nl /

adjective

not personal; without reference or connection to a particular person: an impersonal remark.
having no personality; devoid of human character or traits: an impersonal deity.
lacking human emotion or warmth: an impersonal manner.
Grammar.
  1. (of a verb) having only third person singular forms and rarely if ever accompanied by an expressed subject, as Latin pluit “it is raining,” or regularly accompanied by an empty subject word, as English to rain in It is raining.
  2. (of a pronoun or pronominal reference) indefinite, as French on “one.”

noun

Grammar. an impersonal verb or pronoun.

Origin of impersonal

From the Late Latin word impersōnālis, dating back to 1510–20. See im-2, personal

OTHER WORDS FROM impersonal

im·per·son·al·ly, adverb su·per·im·per·son·al, adjective su·per·im·per·son·al·ly, adverb

Example sentences from the Web for impersonal

British Dictionary definitions for impersonal

impersonal
/ (ɪmˈpɜːsənəl) /

adjective

without reference to any individual person; objective an impersonal assessment
devoid of human warmth or sympathy; cold an impersonal manner
not having human characteristics an impersonal God
grammar (of a verb) having no logical subject. Usually in English the pronoun it is used in such cases as a grammatical subject, as for example in It is raining
grammar (of a pronoun) not denoting a person

Derived forms of impersonal

impersonality, noun impersonally, adverb