'Imperative' definitions:
Definition of 'imperative'
From: WordNet
adjective
Requiring attention or action; "as nuclear weapons proliferate, preventing war becomes imperative"; "requests that grew more and more imperative" [ant: beseeching, imploring, pleading]
adjective
Relating to verbs in the imperative mood
noun
A mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior [syn: imperative mood, imperative, jussive mood, imperative form]
noun
Some duty that is essential and urgent
Definition of 'Imperative'
From: GCIDE
- Imperative \Im*per"a*tive\, n. (Gram.) The imperative mood; also, a verb in the imperative mood. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Imperative'
From: GCIDE
- Imperative \Im*per"a*tive\, a. [L. imperativus, fr. imperare to command; pref. im- in + parare to make ready, prepare: cf. F. imp['e]ratif. See Perade, and cf. Empire.]
- 1. Expressive of command; containing positive command; authoritatively or absolutely directive; commanding; authoritative; as, imperative orders. [1913 Webster]
- The suit of kings are imperative. --Bp. Hall. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Not to be avoided or evaded; obligatory; binding; compulsory; as, an imperative duty or order. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Gram.) Expressive of command, entreaty, advice, or exhortation; as, the imperative mood. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'imperative'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- absolute,
- absolutist,
- absolutistic,
- acid,
- acute,
- allegiance,
- arbitrary,
- aristocratic,
- arrogant,
- ascendant,
- assigned task,
- authoritarian,
- authoritative,
- authorized,
- autocratic,
- basic,
- behest,
- bidding,
- binding,
- biting,
- bossy,
- bounden duty,
- burden,
- burning,
- business,
- call of duty,
- canon,
- case of need,
- charge,
- choiceless,
- claimed,
- clamant,
- clamorous,
- clothed with authority,
- coactive,
- code,
- command,
- commanding,
- commandment,
- commitment,
- compelling,
- competent,
- compulsatory,
- compulsive,
- compulsory,
- conclusive,
- conditional,
- consequential,
- considerable,
- constraining,
- controlling,
- convention,
- corrosive,
- critical,
- crucial,
- crying,
- cutting,
- de rigueur,
- decisive,
- decretal,
- decretive,
- decretory,
- dedication,
- deference,
- demanded,
- despotic,
- devoir,
- devotion,
- dictate,
- dictated,
- dictating,
- dictation,
- dictatorial,
- dictum,
- dire necessity,
- direct order,
- directive,
- dogmatic,
- dominant,
- domineering,
- driving,
- duly constituted,
- duties and responsibilities,
- duty,
- effective,
- eminent,
- empowered,
- entailed,
- essential,
- ethics,
- ex officio,
- exigence,
- exigency,
- exigent,
- fealty,
- feudal,
- final,
- forceful,
- forcible,
- form,
- formula,
- fundamental,
- general principle,
- golden rule,
- governing,
- great,
- grinding,
- guideline,
- guiding principle,
- gutsy,
- hard-and-fast,
- harsh,
- hegemonic,
- hegemonistic,
- hest,
- high-handed,
- high-pressure,
- high-priority,
- homage,
- immediacy,
- imperativeness,
- imperial,
- imperious,
- important,
- importunate,
- imposed,
- impressive,
- incisive,
- indicative,
- indispensable,
- inevitable,
- influential,
- insistent,
- instant,
- instructive,
- involuntary,
- irresistible,
- irrevocable,
- jussive,
- law,
- leading,
- line of duty,
- lordly,
- loyalty,
- magisterial,
- magistral,
- mandated,
- mandating,
- mandatory,
- masterful,
- matter of necessity,
- maxim,
- mighty,
- mission,
- mitzvah,
- mode,
- momentous,
- monocratic,
- mood,
- moral,
- mordant,
- must,
- necessary,
- necessitous,
- nervous,
- norm,
- obligating,
- obligation,
- obligative,
- obligatory,
- official,
- onus,
- oppressive,
- optative,
- order,
- ordering,
- ordinance,
- ought,
- overbearing,
- overruling,
- penetrating,
- peremptory,
- permissive,
- piercing,
- pivotal,
- place,
- pleasure,
- poignant,
- potent,
- potential,
- powerful,
- preceptive,
- predicament,
- preeminent,
- prerequisite,
- prescript,
- prescriptive,
- pressing,
- pressingness,
- pressure,
- prestigious,
- principium,
- principle,
- prominent,
- puissant,
- punchy,
- ranking,
- regulation,
- repressive,
- required,
- requisite,
- respect,
- restraining,
- rubric,
- rule,
- ruling,
- say-so,
- self-imposed duty,
- senior,
- sensational,
- settled principle,
- severe,
- sinewed,
- sinewy,
- slashing,
- special order,
- standard,
- stern,
- strict,
- striking,
- strong,
- subjunctive,
- substantial,
- superior,
- suppressive,
- supreme,
- telling,
- tenet,
- totalitarian,
- trenchant,
- tyrannical,
- tyrannous,
- ultimate,
- urgency,
- urgent,
- urgent need,
- vigorous,
- vital,
- weighty,
- will,
- without appeal,
- without choice,
- word,
- word of command,
- working principle,
- working rule