Imperative

/ɪmˈpɛɹ.ə.tɪv/ · adjective

Meaning

Essential; crucial; extremely important..

Definitions by Sense

1. Essential; crucial; extremely important.
2. (grammar) Of, or relating to the imperative mood.
3. (computing theory) Having semantics that incorporates mutable variables.
4. Expressing a command; authoritatively or absolutely directive.
5. (uncountable, grammar) The grammatical mood expressing an order (see jussive). In English, the imperative form of a verb is the same as that of the bare infinitive.
6. (countable, grammar) A verb in the imperative mood.
7. (countable) An essential action, a must: something which is imperative.

Example Sentences

That you come here right now is imperative.

Meantime, alterations at King William Street had become imperative, and by December 22, 1895, the station had been remodelled, as at Stockwell, to provide an island platform with lines each side, and a scissors crossing.

Give this document to Ozzy. It's imperative that he reads and understands it. Got it?

imperative orders

The suits of kings are imperative.

The verbs in sentences like "Do it!" and "Say what you like!" are in the imperative.

Visiting Berlin is an imperative.

Anything grandiose or historically based tends to sound flat and banal when it reaches English, partly because translators get stuck between contradictory imperatives: juggling fidelity to the original sense with what is vocally viable, they tend to resort to a genteel fustian which lacks either poetic resonance or demotic realism, adding to a sense of artificiality rather than enhancing credibility.

Synonyms for imperative

Antonyms for imperative

Related Words

Word Forms

• more imperative
• most imperative
• imp.
• imper.
• imperatives

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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