influential.

Having a noticeable effect on what people think, decide, or do.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• influential study
• influential figure

On the page

The influential study changed how researchers framed the question.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Comparative more influential; superlative most influential when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation, qualification. Commonness: moderately common.