IMPATIENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does impatient mean? 

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

1. restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition

2. (usually followed by 'to') full of eagerness

  Familiarity information: IMPATIENT used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPATIENT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition

Context example:

impatient of criticism

Similar:

restive (impatient especially under restriction or delay)

unforbearing (unwilling to endure)

Also:

agitated (troubled emotionally and usually deeply)

Antonym:

patient (enduring trying circumstances with even temper or characterized by such endurance)

Derivation:

impatience (a dislike of anything that causes delay)

impatience (a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(usually followed by 'to') full of eagerness

Synonyms:

impatient; raring

Context example:

raring to go

Similar:

eager (having or showing keen interest or intense desire or impatient expectancy)

Derivation:

impatience (a restless desire for change and excitement)

 Context examples 

“Well, my dear,” said Mrs. Thorpe, impatient for praise of her son, “I hope you have had an agreeable partner.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

But at that moment, with an impatient movement, Mr. Ends turned as if about to leave the room.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Perhaps we’d better go in at once, for I know how impatient he is.

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

I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Suddenly, your partner will want the relationship to move forward quickly, impatient to take it to a new level.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This preface made me so impatient, being conscious of my own merits and innocence, that I was going to interrupt him; when he entreated me to be silent, and thus proceeded:—

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.

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

She seemed, even in her sleep, to be a little impatient at finding the door shut, and went back to bed under a sort of protest.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Besides, since yesterday I have experienced the excitement of a person to whom a tale has been half-told, and who is impatient to hear the sequel.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Amy heard the clash of skates, and looked out with an impatient exclamation.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)