Adjacent Words

Impulsive definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IMPULS'IVE, a. Having the power of driving or impelling; moving; impellent.
Poor men! poor papers! We and they
Do some impulsive force obey.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus; "an impulsive gesture of affection" [syn: impulsive, unprompted]
2: without forethought; "letting him borrow her car was an impulsive act that she immediately regretted"
3: having the power of driving or impelling; "a driving personal ambition"; "the driving force was his innate enthusiasm"; "an impulsive force" [syn: driving, impulsive]
4: determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; "a capricious refusal"; "authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious"; "the victim of whimsical persecutions" [syn: capricious, impulsive, whimsical]
5: 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]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 15th century 1. having the power of or actually driving or impelling 2. a. arising from an impulse <an impulsive decision> b. prone to act on impulse <an impulsive young man> 3. acting momentarily Synonyms: see spontaneous • impulsively adverb • impulsiveness noun • impulsivity noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a person or conduct etc.) apt to be affected or determined by sudden impulse. 2 tending to impel. 3 Physics acting as an impulse. Derivatives: impulsively adv. impulsiveness n. Etymology: ME f. F impulsif -ive or LL impulsivus (as IMPULSION)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impulsive Im*pul"sive, a. [Cf. F. impulsif.] 1. Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent. Poor men! poor papers! We and they Do some impulsive force obey. --Prior. 2. Actuated by impulse or by transient feelings. My heart, impulsive and wayward. --Longfellow. 3. (Mech.) Acting momentarily, or by impulse; not continuous; -- said of forces.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impulsive Im*pul"sive, n. That which impels or gives an impulse; an impelling agent. --Sir W. Wotton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as impulsive, you mean that they do things suddenly without thinking about them carefully first. He is too impulsive to be a responsible prime minister... ADJ • impulsively He studied her face for a moment, then said impulsively: 'Let's get married'... ADV: ADV with v • impulsiveness The president's impulsiveness often worries his advisers.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Impelling, moving, propulsive. 2. Passionate, rash, quick, hot, hasty.

Moby Thesaurus

a bit previous, abrupt, actuating, adrift, advanced, afloat, alternating, amorphous, animating, automatic, blind, breakneck, breathless, brittle, capricious, causal, causative, changeable, changeful, changing, choppy, compelling, compulsive, conditioned, corruptible, deciduous, desultory, deviable, deviating, deviative, deviatory, devil-may-care, different, directive, disorderly, divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, driving, dying, eccentric, electrifying, emotional, ephemeral, erose, erratic, evanescent, extemporaneous, fading, far ahead, fast and loose, fickle, fitful, fleeting, flickering, flighty, flitting, fluctuating, fly-by-night, flying, foolhardy, forced, forward, fragile, frail, freakish, fugacious, fugitive, giddy, half-baked, half-cocked, hasty, headlong, ill-considered, immediate, impatient, impellent, impelling, impermanent, impetuous, inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, inducive, infirm, inherent, innate, instinctive, insubstantial, involuntary, irregular, irresolute, irresponsible, jagged, jerky, libidinal, madcap, mazy, mechanical, mercurial, momentary, moody, mortal, motivating, motivational, motive, motley, moving, mutable, natural, nerve-shattering, nonconformist, nondurable, nonpermanent, nonstandard, nonuniform, not firm, offhand, overhasty, oversoon, panting, passing, perishable, pluralistic, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, precocious, premature, pressing, previous, pulsive, quick, ragged, rambling, rash, reckless, reflex, reflexive, restless, rough, roving, rushed, scatterbrained, shapeless, shifting, shifty, shocking, short-lived, shuffling, snap, spasmodic, speedy, spineless, spontaneous, sporadic, spur-of-the-moment, startling, subliminal, sudden, surprising, swift, temporal, temporary, thrusting, too early, too soon, transient, transitive, transitory, unaccountable, unanticipated, uncertain, unconscious, unconsidered, uncontrolled, uncrystallized, undependable, undisciplined, undurable, unenduring, unequable, unequal, uneven, unexpected, unfixed, unforeseen, unintentional, unjelled, unlearned, unlooked-for, unmatured, unmeditated, unorthodox, unplanned, unpredictable, unpredicted, unpremeditated, unprepared, unprompted, unreliable, unrestrained, unripe, unsettled, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsystematic, unthinking, untimely, ununiform, unwilled, unwilling, unwitting, urgent, vacillating, vagrant, variable, variegated, variform, various, varying, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, volatile, wandering, wanton, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, whimsical, wild, wishy-washy