immutable
fixed
indestructible
unchangeable
unchanging
unfading
unvarying
impact
brunt
concussion
force
jolt
shock
These words refer to what does not change or to what cannot be changed. Immutable is the most formal of these words and refers strictly to what cannot be changed. The word often applies approvingly to a truth or principle that is not affected by fashion or the passage of time: the immutable Golden Rule; the immutable justice and mercy of God. In referring to things beyond the scale of human impermanence, the word need not always be approving, though it may connote humility or awe in recognizing them: the immutable physical laws of the universe. Unchangeable is a more informal substitute for immutable, but it also applies more widely to anything not subject to alteration: unchangeable hereditary traits. Often the word can be used disapprovingly of things that are too inflexible or rigid to permit vigor or growth: an unchangeable social order that stifled individuality.
Fixed can indicate something that appears in an immutable order: early astronomers who distinguished between the wandering planets and the fixed stars. But the word can apply within the human scale, whether positively or negatively, to anything set, predetermined, habitual, or rigid: A child’s personality is fixed in the first five years of life; a man of fixed opinions; a fixed stare. Indestructible, at its most literal, refers neutrally to what can never cease to exist: earlier theories that matter was indestructible. As a hyperbole, the word can refer approvingly to anything that withstands decay or change: the indestructible pyramids; He fought on against overwhelming odds with an indestructible determination to win the battle.
Unfading can occasionally refer to materials that are colorfast, but much more commonly, the word refers in a general way to anything that retains its vividness over a long period of time: the unfading memory of their first meeting. The remaining words stress what does not change, for whatever reason, rather than something that cannot be changed. Unchanging can merely indicate what is lasting: unchanging love. But it can be more specific in a series or sequence each item of which resembles every other: unchanging summer days; the tenderness and simplicity with which they moved through the unchanging ritual of their days. The word can also be disapproving in this sense: an unchanging routine that made him want to scream with boredom. Unvarying points almost exclusively to identical items in a series. The word can be neutral or approving: He pronounced each word with unvarying precision. But it is often negative, with even greater force than unchanging: the unvarying daily round of their humdrum lives. See everlasting, immortal,
INVARIABLE, PERMANENT.
Antonyms: changing , fading , inconstant, temporary.
These words refer to the energy with which objects are propelled, bear down, or collide. Impact is specifically restricted to an emphasis on the moment or point of contact between objects, one or both of which have been in motion: the impact of the meteorite on the earth’s surface; the impact of two speeding cars. In emphasizing the contact itself, the word remains relative about the amount of stress developed: the faint impact of rain on his forehead; the mile-wide crater that would result from the impact and explosion of the bomb. The word is often used metaphorically for any effect: the impact of a tax cut on the economy. Here, again, the word remains relative about the amount of effect engendered. The more formal concussion is closely related to impact in stressing collision, but is even more specific, referring to the considerable destructive energy released, usually with resulting damage of a temporary or permanent
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nature, as in its reference to brain damage from a blow: suffered a concussion in the auto accident that would leave him paralyzed for life. Even outside this specific use, it suggests a violent impact: delicate instruments that could not survive the concussion of any hard landing on the moon.
Jolt and shock are more informal than the previous words. They are both more general than but otherwise closely related to concussion in stressing the giving off of considerable energy, as in a collision or blow. Jolt may suggest a sudden shaking motion imparted to one body by another that is in motion: thrown back in his seat with a jolt by the sudden slamming on of his brakes. It is widely used in a more general context for any surprising or stunning occurrence: scientific discoveries that came like jolts to awaken the scholastic mind of the era. Shock suggests an abrupt and heavy impact or onslaught: reeling back under the first shock of the attack. But the word’s other meanings are inevitably present as overtones here, implying a numbed unbelieving response or physical collapse from injury: the shock with which she took the tragic news; a blow that sent him into a state of shock.
Brunt suggests an energetic bearing down that may or may not be supportable; once this may have referred particularly to abruptness of contact, much like impact: wiring that could not bear the brunt of any heavy flow of voltage. Now, more often, it refers to a steady demand that taxes endurance: the brunt of so many debts and so little earning power. Force is the most general of these words and may refer to the degree of energy with which objects make contact or to the amount of propulsion with which things move: grenades with enough force to blow up a well-constructed enemy bunker; applying enough force to dislodge the nameplate; gamma rays that strike the earth’s atmosphere with considerable force. See break (n.), break (v.), impel, propel, wound.
These words refer to a lack of emotional responsiveness. Impassive can pertain to a total lack of sensation or feeling: the impassive eyes of the corpse. Used in a less extreme way, it can refer to someone who remains unmoved by an emotional appeal: The judge stared down, remote and impassive, while the defense lawyer pleaded for clemency. With greater suggestiveness, the word can often indicate someone who maintains a calm or unmoved exterior to conceal an emotional response: Only the faintest flicker of distaste betrayed the otherwise impassive expression with which she greeted the visiting head of state.
Apathetic and indifferent contrast sharply with this last possibility for impassive, since both point to a failure to respond. In addition, apathetic often carries a tone of criticism for a deplorable or pitiable lack of awareness, compassion, or empathy: students critical of parents who had grown apathetic about glaring social evils. Sometimes, this note of criticism may be absent: slum children already sunk in apathetic despair. Where apathetic can suggest an extreme state of anomie or listlessness, indifferent usually indicates a milder state of boredom or uninvolvement. Also, where apathetic can sometimes suggest someone dulled by adversity, indifferent can point to self-contentment as the motivating factor: The French ruling class had long been indifferent to the miseries endured by the peasants. But indifferent is less often condemnatory than apathetic ; it can be neutral or even positive: people wise enough to remain indifferent to the exhortations of demagogues — without ever growing apathetic to the threat they represented.
Insensible refers to a lack of sensation or awareness that stems either
impassive
apathetic
indifferent
insensible
phlegmatic
stolid
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