Definition of: impressionism

(im·presh′ən·iz′əm) noun
1. In painting, a theory and school of art, developed in the third quarter of the 19th century, which attempted to produce, with the vividness and immediacy of nature and particularly of light itself, the impressions made by the subject on the artist. See IMPRESSIONIST SCHOOL.
2. In literature, a theory and practice of presenting the most immediate and arresting aspects of character, emotion, scene, or situation with relatively little study of explicit realistic detail.
3. Music A theory and school of composition, developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as by Debussy and Ravel, striving to create impressions, moods, and atmospheric qualities by new tonal effects and other characteristic devices.
—im·pres′·sion·ist adjective & noun
—im·pres′sion·is′tic adjective