Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Arrogantly domineering or overbearing. See Synonyms at dictatorial.
- adj. Urgent; pressing.
- adj. Obsolete Regal; imperial.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- l. Imperial.
- Of a domineering character or quality; dictatorial; overbearing: as, an imperious tyrant or temper.
- Of an urgent or pressing nature; overmastering; compulsory; imperative: as, imperious circumstances; an imperious necessity.
- Synonyms Authoritative, Dogmatic, etc. (see magisterial), tyrannical, despotic, wilful, determined.
- 2 and
- 3. Im. perious, Imperative. Imperious applies to the spirit or manner of the person ruling or giving a command, and of rule in general; imperative, to the nature of a command. An imperious person is determined to have his will obeyed; imperious rule is characterized by the haughty, overbearing, and determined nature of the ruler. An imperative command is absolute, express, peremptory, and not to be questioned or evaded. Imperative is not properly applicable to persons.
Wiktionary
- adj. Domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.
- adj. Urgent.
- adj. obsolete Imperial or regal.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic.
- adj. Haughly; arrogant; overbearing.
- adj. Imperative; urgent; compelling.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
Etymologies
- From Latin imperiōsus ("mighty, powerful"), from imperium ("command, authority, power") (Wiktionary)
- From Latin imperiōsus, from imperium, imperium; see empire. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Mrs. Prendergast looked across at Eva, her expression imperious.”
“She was again imperious, ran the dicussions like a martinet, bristled when one Smith student said she hadn't read the books, but had seen the MP movie.”
“Throughout his time at the company, its stock remained stagnant under what was described as his imperious leadership and "deficient strategy, operations, capital allocation, and governance.”
Leo W. Gerard: The Three TNT Truck Drivers and Bush's War on Labor
“Such a look is best described as imperious, although one less reserved than I but perhaps more potently metaphorical would say that she simply looked a hole through you, seeing beyond you as if you were not there at all.”
“He chuckled and grinned with a fierce, savage sense of humour, while he recalled the imperious manner in which Mr. Ryfe had taken the initiative in their joint proceedings; as if they originated in his own invention, were ordered solely for his own convenience; and the tone of authority in which that gentleman had warned him not to be late.”
“John Luther (Idris Elba aka the imperious Stringer Bell from The Wire) knows the identity of the killer from the beginning - he just has to prove it.”
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph
“Jagger became unbearable over the years and reveals he also calls the imperious lead singer”
“- Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards says in his new autobiography that Mick Jagger became unbearable over the years and reveals he also calls the imperious lead singer "Your Majesty" and "Brenda.”
“Our citizens should be free to express their political views without expecting Congress to act as a kind of imperious censor or arbiter of what is acceptable, intelligent or in good taste.”
“At few points in U.S. history, prior to the end of the Cold War, have we adopted the kind of imperious attitude toward other nations that has characterized our international relations in the 21st century.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘imperious’.
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Dominant/Submissive
abusive, adamant, autocratic, bossy, bullheaded, bumptious, certain, cock-a-hoop, cocksure, cocky, commanding, compelling and 189 more...
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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New words
new words or spelling issues
voluble, Metagrobolize, salubrious, calumny, fugacity, withdrawal, bourse, hypertrophy, leitmotif, argot, improvident, damask and 238 more...
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501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 503 more...
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If You Can't Say Anything Nice
Negative attributes or actions.
biased, cantankerous, caustic, contumacious, dilatory, disdain, duplicitous, fastidious, fractious, glower, haughty, imperious and 22 more...
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Let's Talk About Family!
idiosyncrasy, acerbic, sardonic, mordant, aesthetics, prolific, discerning, eclectic, iconoclast, heterodox, disheveled, deplorable and 36 more...
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man gre
abase, abeyance, abreast, abscission, abscond, abyss, accede, accretion, acerbic, acidulous, acumen, adulterate and 483 more...
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GRE
GRE words from Princeton Review guide, ETS GRE Book from 2010 (for revised test), New Yorker/NY Times articles.
sycophant, obsequious, volubility, equanimity, enervate, effrontery, impertinent, platitude, impudence, quiescent, propitiate, equivocate and 124 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1861 more...
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to memorize
words i need to memorize
aberrant, abscond, advocate, aggrandize, amalgamate, ambiguous, ambrosial, anomalous, antediluvian, antipathy, arbitrate, assuage and 163 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for imperious.
super-logos I love this word. I love anything with a strong Latin base. Aug 13, 2008
thinkcharlene Will & Grace - Season 1, Episode 12 - "My Fair Maid-y" Aug 23, 2007