IMPERATIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does imperative mean? 

• IMPERATIVE (noun)
  The noun IMPERATIVE has 2 senses:

1. a mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior

2. some duty that is essential and urgent

  Familiarity information: IMPERATIVE used as a noun is rare.

• IMPERATIVE (adjective)
  The adjective IMPERATIVE has 2 senses:

1. requiring attention or action

2. relating to verbs in the imperative mood

  Familiarity information: IMPERATIVE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPERATIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

imperative; imperative form; imperative mood; jussive mood

Hypernyms ("imperative" is a kind of...):

modality; mode; mood (verb inflections that express how the action or state is conceived by the speaker)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Some duty that is essential and urgent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("imperative" is a kind of...):

duty; obligation; responsibility (the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force)

• IMPERATIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Requiring attention or action

Context example:

requests that grew more and more imperative

Similar:

adjuratory (containing a solemn charge or command)

clamant; crying; exigent; insistent; instant (demanding attention)

peremptory (not allowing contradiction or refusal)

desperate (showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire)

pressing; urgent (compelling immediate action)

shrill; strident (being sharply insistent on being heard)

Also:

assertive; self-asserting; self-assertive (aggressively self-assured)

Antonym:

beseeching (begging)

Derivation:

imperativeness (the state of demanding notice or attention)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Relating to verbs in the imperative mood

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Domain category:

grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics))

Pertainym:

imperative mood (a mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior)

 Context examples 

This time Wolf Larsen’s command was thrillingly imperative.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The desire to do it was strong, but stronger still was the imperative command of his nature not to do it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

An imperative issued by the manufacturer of a device that the device needs to be returned to a designated source for repair or replacement.

(Manufacturer Recall, NCI Thesaurus/ACC)

In the midst of the uproar there was an imperative rap upon the table, and my uncle rose to speak.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She said no more, even in answer to the Professor's imperative questioning.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

There was imperative need to be constantly alert; for these dogs and men were not town dogs and men.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The she-wolf's need to find the thing for which she searched had now become imperative.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

You have had to be patient and realistic in your approach to this endeavor, for Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn has made this an imperative.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It is imperative that we identify new therapies that we can use alongside conventional asthma medications.

(Fish-Rich Diet Beneficial for Children with Asthma, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“You must let me speak,” said the woman, in an imperative voice, and her face contracted as if in pain.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)