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Glite Dictionary
to fail to impress

to fail to impress

2 4.1
Not make people think something is good or special
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : no impresionar
  • The movie was well-reviewed, but it still failed to impress the critics compared to last year's blockbusters.
  • never fails to impress

Examples

  • Despite his experience, the candidate failed to impress the hiring manager during the interview.

  • This was so touching; you never fail to impress me or show me a different perspective.

    Blog text (27)

  • But not only was it directors that Hirose failed to impress; he failed to impress himself.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Although I had given Carlos tattoos and a bald head, he failed to impress my editor.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Reagan's Star Wars proposal failed to impress many American military leaders and most scientists, but created consternation in Moscow.

    Academic text (1990)

  • President Chen's cross-strait initiatives have failed to impress Beijing's leadership.

    Academic text (2002)

  • His presentation failed to impress the board members, who expected more innovation.

Synonyms

to disappoint
vsto fail to impress
492 1.0

Fail to do what someone hoped for

fails to gain admiration rather than just miss expectations
to let down
vsto fail to impress
210 2.9

Make someone feel disappointed by not doing what you promised

fails to create admiration instead of breaking promises
to fall flat
vsto fail to impress
  • Informal
19 4.9

To fail to get a response or interest from people

fails to gain admiration or a noticeable favorable reaction

Antonyms

to impress
457 2.8

To make someone admire you or accept an idea

to captivate
19 4.2

To attract and hold someone's full attention

How Impressive

to amaze
294 1.0
to astonish
13 3.5
to impress
457 2.8
to fail to impress
2 4.1

Surface Forms

fail to impress infinitive
failed to impress past
failed to impress past participle
failing to impress present participle
fails to impress third person singular

Morphology

fail + to + impress

The meaning 'to not succeed in making someone feel admiration' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'fail' (not succeed) with the infinitive 'to impress' (to produce admiration). This verb + infinitive composition follows standard, compositional English patterns and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the overall meaning.

Etymology

Fail to impress comes from the old idea of impress meaning to press a mark into something, like a stamp or seal. If the stamp does not 'leave a mark' it 'fails to impress', so the phrase now means not making someone feel 'admiration' or a strong effect.