Imperative
adjective
Important, must do.
It is imperative to complete your homework on time.
noun
A command, order.
The general issued an imperative to his troops.
adjective
Related to a verb form that expresses command or request.
In the sentence 'Clean your room.', 'Clean' is in the imperative form.
Usage tips
Academic
adjective
Important, must do.
It is imperative to complete your homework on time.
noun
A command, order.
The general issued an imperative to his troops.
adjective
Related to a verb form that expresses command or request.
In the sentence 'Clean your room.', 'Clean' is in the imperative form.
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Urgency Connotation
Suggests an action is critical and needs immediate attention.
It's imperative that we evacuate the building now.
Pro Tip 2/3Non-negotiable Action
Implies that there is no alternative but to follow the instruction or advice.
For safety, it's imperative to follow the guidelines.
Pro Tip 3/3Emphasize Importance
Adds gravity to a statement, showcasing its significance.
It's imperative that we conserve water during the drought.
Pro Tip 1/3Urgency Connotation
Suggests an action is critical and needs immediate attention.
It's imperative that we evacuate the building now.
Pro Tip 2/3Non-negotiable Action
Implies that there is no alternative but to follow the instruction or advice.
For safety, it's imperative to follow the guidelines.
Pro Tip 3/3Emphasize Importance
Adds gravity to a statement, showcasing its significance.
It's imperative that we conserve water during the drought.
Pro Tip 1/3Urgency Connotation
Suggests an action is critical and needs immediate attention.
It's imperative that we evacuate the building now.
Pro Tip 2/3Non-negotiable Action
Implies that there is no alternative but to follow the instruction or advice.
For safety, it's imperative to follow the guidelines.
Pro Tip 3/3Emphasize Importance
Adds gravity to a statement, showcasing its significance.
It's imperative that we conserve water during the drought.
Compare with
commandcompelcrucialessentialmandatorilynecessaryobligatorypressingurgentvital
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Video examples
Wade Davis: Cultures at...
the consequence of one particular set of adaptive choices that our lineage made, albeit successfully, many generations ago. And of course, we all share the same adaptive imperatives. We're all born. We all bring our children into the world. We go through initiation rites. We have to deal with the inexorable separation of death,
Video examples
Why Gender Equality Is...
is the first step to engaging men to support gender equality. Now, when men first hear about gender equality, when they first start thinking about it, they often think, many men think, well, that's right, that's fair, that's just, that's the ethical imperative.
Video examples
How Drones Are Helping...
They've got echidnas all over the place. They've got different types of possums, koalas, And they got hit really hard with these fires and lost a significant amount of the island. So it was imperative that we try to rescue these animals as quick as possible.
Video examples
Why tech needs the...
but that skill requires a far less rigorous and formalized education than it did in the past. Number two, the skills that are imperative and differentiated in a world with intuitive technology are the skills that help us to work together as humans,
Video examples
Can you outsmart the...
should be allowed because it serves the imperative of single-sex education. You might as well say that witch hunts should be encouraged because they fulfill the need for witch hunts. These are examples of circular reasoning,
Video examples
Listening to shame PIPE...
but a moral imperative from my upbringing -- "you've got to dance with the one who brung ya". And I did not learn about vulnerability and courage and creativity and innovation from studying vulnerability.
Video examples
Anne-Marie Slaughter:...
So making a place for those we love is actually a global imperative. In policy terms, real equality means recognizing that the work that women have traditionally done is just as important
Video examples
The big impact of small...
opportunity as well as a an environmental imperative many Parliament's around the world have developed of policies to resist climate change many Parliament's of still to
Video examples
Nationalism vs....
I think the imperative of having some kind of real ability to force through difficult decisions on the global level is more important than almost anything else.
Video examples
Stephen Hawking on Space...
survive the next hundred years let alone a thousand that is imperative we avoid it out into the blackness of space to colonize new worlds across the cosmos
Video examples
Wade Davis: Cultures at...
the consequence of one particular set of adaptive choices that our lineage made, albeit successfully, many generations ago. And of course, we all share the same adaptive imperatives. We're all born. We all bring our children into the world. We go through initiation rites. We have to deal with the inexorable separation of death,
Video examples
Why Gender Equality Is...
is the first step to engaging men to support gender equality. Now, when men first hear about gender equality, when they first start thinking about it, they often think, many men think, well, that's right, that's fair, that's just, that's the ethical imperative.
Video examples
How Drones Are Helping...
They've got echidnas all over the place. They've got different types of possums, koalas, And they got hit really hard with these fires and lost a significant amount of the island. So it was imperative that we try to rescue these animals as quick as possible.
Video examples
Why tech needs the...
but that skill requires a far less rigorous and formalized education than it did in the past. Number two, the skills that are imperative and differentiated in a world with intuitive technology are the skills that help us to work together as humans,
Video examples
Can you outsmart the...
should be allowed because it serves the imperative of single-sex education. You might as well say that witch hunts should be encouraged because they fulfill the need for witch hunts. These are examples of circular reasoning,
Video examples
Listening to shame PIPE...
but a moral imperative from my upbringing -- "you've got to dance with the one who brung ya". And I did not learn about vulnerability and courage and creativity and innovation from studying vulnerability.
Video examples
Anne-Marie Slaughter:...
So making a place for those we love is actually a global imperative. In policy terms, real equality means recognizing that the work that women have traditionally done is just as important
Video examples
The big impact of small...
opportunity as well as a an environmental imperative many Parliament's around the world have developed of policies to resist climate change many Parliament's of still to
Video examples
Nationalism vs....
I think the imperative of having some kind of real ability to force through difficult decisions on the global level is more important than almost anything else.
Video examples
Stephen Hawking on Space...
survive the next hundred years let alone a thousand that is imperative we avoid it out into the blackness of space to colonize new worlds across the cosmos
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Janet Reno
American Public Servant
What has too often happened in the past is that people have threatened punishment but have failed to carry it out. It's imperative in any initiative that is undertaken that punishment be real and that there be truth in sentencing, and that the truly dangerous offenders - the recidivists and the career criminals - be put away and kept away.
Quote examples
H. W. Brands
American Historian
When you tell a story, there are imperatives of structure, of style, of pacing and all of this, that are there simply because you want to make it a good story. When do you introduce your characters? When do you put them onstage, when do you take them off the stage? How do you weave the different threads of the narrative together?
Quote examples
Frances McDormand
American Actress
My son smelled like a cinnamon bun, and that smell entered into my biological being, and it became an imperative that I keep him alive at all costs, so then there's this monster - this tiger or lion - that comes forward in you to protect them. And it doesn't stop. It doesn't matter if they become men or women.
Quote examples
John Major
British Politician
Government gets things right' does not encourage sales. 'Government makes another blunder' does encourage sales, so there's a commercial imperative that pushes sensationalism.
Quote examples
Jim Cooper
American Politician
With our national savings rate well below one-percent, it is imperative that the government embrace innovative and cost-effective means of boosting personal savings.
Quote examples
Glenn Kelman
American Businessman
With Facebook's IPO, the world learned a new way of organizing businesses around one overriding imperative: to ship new products quickly.
Quote examples
Gita Gopinath
Indian Economist
Across all economies, the imperative is to take actions that boost potential output, improve inclusiveness, and strengthen resilience.
Quote examples
Jeff Bewkes
American Businessman
Cultivating diversity in all its forms - of our content, products, and people - is one of our most important business imperatives.
Quote examples
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Monacan Royalty
Protecting the environment is just as important a priority as the economic imperatives.
Quote examples
Johan Rockstrom
Environmentalist
Protecting our planet is a moral imperative.
Quote examples
Janet Reno
American Public Servant
What has too often happened in the past is that people have threatened punishment but have failed to carry it out. It's imperative in any initiative that is undertaken that punishment be real and that there be truth in sentencing, and that the truly dangerous offenders - the recidivists and the career criminals - be put away and kept away.
Quote examples
H. W. Brands
American Historian
When you tell a story, there are imperatives of structure, of style, of pacing and all of this, that are there simply because you want to make it a good story. When do you introduce your characters? When do you put them onstage, when do you take them off the stage? How do you weave the different threads of the narrative together?
Quote examples
Frances McDormand
American Actress
My son smelled like a cinnamon bun, and that smell entered into my biological being, and it became an imperative that I keep him alive at all costs, so then there's this monster - this tiger or lion - that comes forward in you to protect them. And it doesn't stop. It doesn't matter if they become men or women.
Quote examples
John Major
British Politician
Government gets things right' does not encourage sales. 'Government makes another blunder' does encourage sales, so there's a commercial imperative that pushes sensationalism.
Quote examples
Jim Cooper
American Politician
With our national savings rate well below one-percent, it is imperative that the government embrace innovative and cost-effective means of boosting personal savings.
Quote examples
Glenn Kelman
American Businessman
With Facebook's IPO, the world learned a new way of organizing businesses around one overriding imperative: to ship new products quickly.
Quote examples
Gita Gopinath
Indian Economist
Across all economies, the imperative is to take actions that boost potential output, improve inclusiveness, and strengthen resilience.
Quote examples
Jeff Bewkes
American Businessman
Cultivating diversity in all its forms - of our content, products, and people - is one of our most important business imperatives.
Quote examples
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Monacan Royalty
Protecting the environment is just as important a priority as the economic imperatives.
Quote examples
Johan Rockstrom
Environmentalist
Protecting our planet is a moral imperative.
Example 1 of 10
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