Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Imperious
1.
Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic.
[Obs.]
“A vast and imperious mind.” Tilloison.
Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,
Imperious
. Shakespeare
2.
Haughly; arrogant; overbearing;
as, an
imperious
tyrant; an imperious
manner.This
From princes into pages.
imperious
man will work us allFrom princes into pages.
Shakespeare
His bold, contemptuous, and
imperious
spirit soon made him conspicuous. Macaulay.
3.
Imperative; urgent; compelling.
Syn. – Dictatorial; haughty; domineering; overbearing; lordly; tyrannical; despotic; arrogant; imperative; authoritative; commanding; pressing.
–
Imperious
, Lordly
, Domineering
. One who is imperious exercises his authority in a manner highly offensive for its spirit and tone; one who is lordly assumes a lofty air in order to display his importance; one who is domineering gives orders in a way to make others feel their inferiority. Webster 1828 Edition
Imperious
IMPE'RIOUS
,Adj.
1.
Commanding; dictatorial; haughty; arrogant; overbearing; domineering; as an imperious tyrant; an imperious dictator; an imperious man; an imperious temper.2.
Commanding; indicating an imperious temper; authoritative; as imperious words.3.
Powerful; overbearing; not to be opposed by obstacles; as a man of a vast and imperious mind.4.
Commanding; urgent; pressing; as imperious love; imperious circumstances; imperious appetite.5.
Authoritative; commanding with rightful authority. The commandment high and imperious in its claims.
Definition 2024
imperious
imperious
English
Adjective
imperious (not comparable)
- Domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.
- 1866 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth
- ...she glanced about her in an imperious, challenging sort of way, with looks and gestures that clearly were unstudied.
- 1866 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth
- Urgent.
- 1891 – Ambrose Bierce, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
- Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth.
- 1891 – Ambrose Bierce, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
- (obsolete) Imperial or regal.
- 1895 – Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage
- She was quick, beautiful, imperious, while he was quiet, slow, and misty.
- 1895 – Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage
Synonyms
- (domineering): authoritarian, bossy, dictatorial, domineering, overbearing
Related terms
Related terms
Translations
domineering, overbearing
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imperial or regal
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