imperative — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Essential; crucial; extremely important.

   Examples

   That you come here right now is imperative.

   More examples (1)

   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?

2. Of, or relating to the imperative mood.

   Broader terms

   mandative

3. Having semantics that incorporates mutable variables.

   Antonyms

   functional

4. Expressing a command; authoritatively or absolutely directive.

   Examples

   imperative orders

   The suits of kings are imperative.

Noun

1. 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.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   imperative mood

   Examples

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

2. A verb in the imperative mood.

   Usage

   • Countable

3. An essential action, a must: something which is imperative.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   Visiting Berlin is an imperative.

   More examples (1)

   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.

   The new imperative for investment is the Government's objective to secure carbon-neutral transport emissions by 2040.

Adjective

1. requiring attention or action

   Antonyms

   beseeching

   Examples

   as nuclear weapons proliferate, preventing war becomes imperative

   requests that grew more and more imperative

2. relating to verbs in the imperative mood

Noun

1. a mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior

   Synonyms

   imperative moodjussive moodimperative form

   Broader terms

   moodmodemodality

2. some duty that is essential and urgent

   Broader terms

   dutyresponsibilityobligation

3. a verb in the imperative mood.

   Synonyms

   imperative verb

   Broader terms

   verb