indelible mark
3
6.8
- noun
- /ɪnˈdɛlɪbəl mɑrk/
:
marca indeleble
- Luna, Amorsolo, and Zbel each left an indelible mark on succeeding generations of artists.
- leave an indelible mark
In five different centuries, Harvard has left an indelible mark.
- In five different centuries, Harvard has left an indelible mark.
- I'm just wondering how that was expressed such that it was made such an indelible mark on you.
Examples
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Within a generation or two, however, most of those differences disappeared, though not without leaving indelible marks on the language, the cuisine, and the culture of their adopted land.
Academic text (1992) -
The missionaries succeeded, however, in leaving an indelible mark, introducing the machetes and metal axes that made slash and burn possible.
Academic text (2008) -
So, but it leaves this indelible mark on my life.
-
You are about to leave an indelible mark on the earth.
-
The death of those towers left an indelible mark on everyone who watched that day.
Blog text (20) -
They still have left this indelible mark in my mind.
-
The events of that summer of '59 had put an indelible mark on her.
Fiction book (1994) -
Societal changes leave indelible marks on organizations, as well as on the business landscape.
Blog text (28) -
There are people that cross our lives in tiny fractions of time, in the briefest of encounters, and yet they leave an indelible mark in our hearts and our minds.
-
Justice Scalia left an indelible mark on American history that can never be forgotten.
Synonyms
21
4.4
A lasting change left by an event or person
11
3.7
A result that continues a long time after something happens
How Lasting
3
6.8
50
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is a straightforward composition of 'indelible' (permanent, cannot be erased) + 'mark' (an impression), so the meaning 'a lasting impression' is directly derivable from the constituents. This adjective+noun pattern is a standard, compositional pattern in English and parallels in many languages, making it immediately comprehensible to learners who know both words.
Etymology
Indelible mark comes from the picture of a mark made with indelible ink that cannot be washed away, like a tattoo. So when someone says this, they mean a 'lasting effect' that 'cannot be forgotten'.