Adjacent Words

Impetuous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IMPET'UOUS, a. [L. impetuosus, from impetus,impeto; in and peto, to urge, to rush. See Bid.]
1. Rushing with great force and violence; moving rapidly; furious; forcible; fierce; raging; as an impetuous wind; an impetuous torrent.
2. Vehement of mind; fierce; hasty; passionate; violent; as a man of impetuous temper.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation; "a hotheaded decision"; "liable to such impulsive acts as hugging strangers"; "an impetuous display of spending and gambling"; "madcap escapades"; (`brainish' is archaic) [syn: hotheaded, impulsive, impetuous, madcap, tearaway, brainish]
2: marked by violent force; "impetuous heaving waves"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin impetuosus, from Latin impetus Date: 14th century 1. marked by impulsive vehemence or passion <an impetuous temperament> 2. marked by force and violence of movement or action <an impetuous wind> Synonyms: see precipitate • impetuously adverb • impetuousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 acting or done rashly or with sudden energy. 2 moving forcefully or rapidly. Derivatives: impetuosity n. impetuously adv. impetuousness n. Etymology: ME f. OF impetueux f. LL impetuosus (as IMPETUS)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impetuous Im*pet"u*ous, a. [F. impetueux, L. impetuosus. See Impetus.] 1. Rushing with force and violence; moving with impetus; furious; forcible; violent; as, an impetuous wind; an impetuous torrent. Went pouring forward with impetuous speed. --Byron. 2. Vehement in feeling; hasty; passionate; violent; as, a man of impetuous temper. The people, on their holidays, Impetuous, insolent, unquenchable. --Milton. Syn: Forcible; rapid; hasty; precipitate; furious; boisterous; violent; raging; fierce; passionate. -- Im*pet"u*ous*ly, adv. -- Im*pet"u*ous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as impetuous, you mean that they are likely to act quickly and suddenly without thinking or being careful. He was young and impetuous... = rash, impulsive ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Vehement, violent, furious, fierce, passionate, precipitate, hasty, hot, over-zealous, headlong.

Moby Thesaurus

abrupt, accident-prone, active, acute, adrift, afloat, aggressive, alternating, amorphous, animated, antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious, ardent, breakneck, breathless, brisk, brittle, capricious, careless, chafing, changeable, changeful, corruptible, deciduous, desperate, desultory, deviable, devil-may-care, dizzy, dying, dynamic, eager, eccentric, edgy, electrifying, energetic, enterprising, enthusiastic, ephemeral, erratic, evanescent, excited, fading, fast and loose, fervid, fickle, fierce, fiery, fitful, fleeting, flickering, flighty, flitting, fluctuating, fly-by-night, flying, forceful, forcible, fragile, frail, freakish, fretful, fretting, fugacious, fugitive, full of pep, furious, giddy, go-go, harum-scarum, hasty, headlong, hearty, hopped-up, hotheaded, hurried, impassioned, impatient, impermanent, impulsive, in a lather, in a stew, in a sweat, incisive, inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, infirm, insubstantial, intense, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, keen, kinetic, lively, living, lusty, mad, mazy, mercurial, mettlesome, momentary, moody, mortal, mutable, nerve-shattering, nondurable, nonpermanent, offhand, on edge, overeager, overenthusiastic, overhasty, overzealous, panting, passing, passionate, peppy, perishable, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, quick, rambling, rash, reckless, restive, restless, robust, roving, rushing, scatterbrained, shapeless, shifting, shifty, shocking, short-lived, shuffling, simmering, slap-bang, slapdash, smacking, snappy, spanking, spasmodic, speedy, spineless, spirited, spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment, squirming, squirmy, startling, stormy, strenuous, strong, sudden, surprising, swift, take-charge, take-over, tempestuous, temporal, temporary, tornadic, transient, transitive, transitory, trenchant, unaccountable, unanticipated, uncertain, uncontrolled, undependable, undisciplined, undurable, uneasy, unenduring, unexpected, unfixed, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unpatient, unplanned, unpredictable, unpredicted, unpremeditated, unquiet, unreflective, unreliable, unrestrained, unsettled, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unthinking, vacillating, vagrant, variable, vehement, vibrant, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, vigorous, violent, vivacious, vivid, volatile, volcanic, wandering, wanton, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, whimsical, wild, wishy-washy, zestful, zesty, zippy