impetuous

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“
But Miss Katie--impetuous, dimple-cheeked Katie, would fling herself down anywhere regardless of edged ruffles or floating sash ribbons For it is clean dirt," she laughingly said, when Miss Dorothy playfully scolded her for it.

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Characterized by sudden and forceful energy or emotion; impulsive and passionate.
  2. adjective Having or marked by violent force: impetuous, heaving waves.
  3. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: impetuous, heedless, hasty, headlong, precipitate, sudden
    These adjectives describe abruptness or lack of deliberation. Impetuous suggests forceful impulsiveness or impatience: "[a race driver who was] flamboyant, impetuous, disdainful of death” (Jim Murray).
    Heedless implies carelessness or lack of responsibility or proper regard for consequences: "Hobbling down stairs with heedless haste, I set my foot full in a pail of water” (Richard Steele).
    Hasty and headlong both stress hurried, often reckless action: "Hasty marriage seldom proveth well” (Shakespeare). "In his headlong flight down the circular staircase, ... [he] had pitched forward violently, struck his head against the door to the east veranda, and probably broken his neck” (Mary Roberts Rinehart).
    Precipitate suggests impulsiveness and lack of due reflection: a precipitate decision.
    Sudden applies to what becomes apparent abruptly or unexpectedly: is given to sudden paroxysms of anger.

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Examples (50)

  • Her heart was warm with the spring and the miracle of the cactus hedge, and memories of impetuous--_seemingly impetuous--words of last night If she could have seen Knight she would have spoken of his allegory; and that small opening might have let sunlight into their darkness. —  The Second Latchkey
  • His fire cut our ranks to pieces; his attack was violent, impetuous, and simultaneous; infantry, artillery, and cavalry, all made a grand effort. —  History of the Expedition to Russia Undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the Year 1812
  • The character has gone from a very impetuous, aggressive, almost nasty young man to a very quiet, strong, very reserved lawyer. —  100 New Yorkers of the 1970s
  • Jack was impetuous, and Rose, while making no pronounced opposition, quietly said that no tests were necessary; that she and Jack had been separated for a long time and knew their own minds. —  The Wedge of Gold
  • In this fine advance the 71st Highland Light Infantry, supported by the Guides, made the frontal attack, and so impetuous was their charge that the summit was reached and the enemy driven from it with little loss. —  The Story of the Guides
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Suggestions Wordniks Suggest

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

impulsive ·  passionate ·  reckless ·  headstrong ·  ardent ·  vehement ·  imperious ·  resolute ·  turbulent ·  haughty ·  hasty ·  warlike
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, violent, from Old French impetueux, from Late Latin impetuōsus, from Latin impetus, impetus; see impetus.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French impétueux = Spanish Portuguese Italian impetuoso, from Late Latin impetuosus, inpetuosus, from Latin impetus, inpetus, a rushing upon, an attack: see impetus.
 

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/ɪmˈpɛtjuəs/
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