I. ə̇mˈperəd.]iv, -rət] adjective
Etymology: Late Latin imperativus, from Latin imperatus (past participle of imperare to command) + -ivus -ive — more at emperor
1.
a. : of, relating to, or being the grammatical mood that expresses the will to influence the behavior of another (as in a command, entreaty, or exhortation) — compare indicative
b. : expressive of or being a command, entreaty, or exhortation
an imperative rule of conduct
an imperative tone of voice
: commanding often imperiously
an imperative manner
imperative persons rush about giving orders
“you must let me speak,” said the woman, in an imperative voice — A. Conan Doyle
c. : restraining, controlling, and directing
the democratic instinct is in France too imperative — W.C.Brownell
2. : not to be avoided or evaded : urgent , obligatory , binding , compulsory
an imperative duty
an imperative engagement
Synonyms: see masterful , pressing
II. noun
( -s )
1. : the imperative mood or a verb form or verbal phrase expressing it
an imperative of the verb
2. : command , order
a sheep dog emits imperatives to his flock hardly distinguishable from those that the shepherd employs toward him — Bertrand Russell
also : rule , guide
lived by certain simple imperatives
3.
a. : an obligatory act or duty
the social imperatives of our time — M.J.Rosenberg
it is an imperative that we try again before giving up
b. : an imperative judgment, proposition, or statement — see categorical imperative , hypothetical imperative
c. : necessity , need
the terrible imperative of reaching the springs — D.L.Morgan
the sheer imperatives of survival — New Republic
d. : an unavoidable fact compelling or insistently calling for action
the imperatives of physical battle — New York Herald Tribune Book Review
economic imperatives
e. : a quality or aspect that gives authority or obligatoriness or that demands action
the imperative of law is not simply the imperative of grammatical form — Glenn Negley
by the conscious direction of the people quite apart from the imperative of events — T.K.Finletter