impartial
im-PAR-shuladjMeaning treating all sides equally; not taking sides
Memory hook IM-PARTIAL: not PARTIAL to either side. Nana Lou judges the pie contest wearing a blindfold, so she can’t favor her own grandson’s pie: she is impartial.
A good referee stays impartial, even when her hometown team is playing.
In context Because the judge had never met either family, she could be impartial, weighing only the facts each side presented.
Similar fair, unbiased, neutral, evenhanded
Opposite biased, partial, one-sided
From im- (not) + partial, “favoring one part or side.”