Basic Details
Word: Influential
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Having a lot of power to change what people think or do, or how things happen.
Synonyms: powerful, important, leading, significant
Antonyms: unimportant, insignificant, powerless
How to Spell Influential
Syllables: in - flu - en - tial
Tricky part: Influence ends in -ence, but the adjective ends in -tial: the c turns into t.
Watch out for: influencial, influental, influentiel
Memory tip: The c becomes t, just as essence gives essential and residence gives residential.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Gandhiji's weekly Young India was one of the most influential papers of its day.
Example 2: Our coach was the most influential person in my decision to take up hockey.
Example 3: Some influential families in the town helped build the new hospital.
Fun Fact
The illness influenza takes its name from the Italian word for influence, because people once blamed outbreaks on the influence of the stars.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
infl_en_ial
a) e, t
b) u, t
c) u, c
d) u, s
Show answer
b) u, t. Flu gives the u, and the adjective ending is -tial.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word influential as used in the sentence:
Her grandfather was an influential lawyer whose opinion even judges asked for.
a) famous
b) insignificant
c) powerful
d) popular
Show answer
b) insignificant. An insignificant person has no power to change things, the opposite of influential.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Her blog on saving water became so tinualnefil that the city council adopted two of her ideas.
a) unofficial
b) influential
c) confidential
d) substantial
Show answer
b) influential. Two i's, two n's, an f and a u: only influential has the full set.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An influential book is one that ____.
a) changes the way many people think
b) has a very long title
c) costs a lot of money
d) is printed in large type
Show answer
a) changes the way many people think
2. The noun that goes with influential is ____.
a) influent
b) influenza
c) influx
d) influence
Show answer
d) influence
