adj.

1. Expressing a command or plea; peremptory: requests that grew more and more imperative.
2. Having the power or authority to command or control.
3. Grammar. Of, relating to, or constituting the mood that expresses a command or request.
4. Impossible to deter or evade; pressing: imperative needs. See synonyms at urgent.

n.

1. 1. A command; an order.
   2. An obligation; a duty: social imperatives.
2. A rule, principle, or instinct that compels a certain behavior: a people driven to aggression by territorial imperatives.
3. Grammar.
   1. The imperative mood.
   2. A verb form of the imperative mood.

[Middle English imperatif, relating to the imperative mood, from Old French, from Late Latin imperātīvus, from Latin imperātus, past participle of imperāre, to command. See emperor.]

imperatively im·per'a·tive·ly adv.
imperativeness im·per'a·tive·ness n.

adjective

1. Compelling immediate attention: burning, crying, dire, emergent, exigent, instant, pressing, urgent. See big/small/amount.
2. Imposed on one by authority, command, or convention: compulsory, mandatory, necessary, obligatory, required, requisite. See obligation.

noun

An act or course of action that is demanded of one, as by position, custom, law, or religion: burden¹, charge, commitment, duty, must, need, obligation, responsibility. See obligation.

adj

Definition: authoritative
Antonyms: discretionary, free, submissive, unrestrained, voluntary

adj

Definition: necessary
Antonyms: inessential, optional, secondary, unimportant, unnecessary, voluntary

---

The standard mood of sentences used to issue requests and commands. Questions in the philosophy of language arising from imperatives include estimating whether the need to issue requests and commands might be as basic as the need to communicate information (animal signalling systems may often be interpreted either way), and understanding the relationship between commands and other action-guiding uses of language, such as ethical discourse. The ethical theory of prescriptivism in fact equates the two functions. A further question is whether there is an imperative logic. ‘Hump that bale!’ seems to follow from ‘Tote that barge and hump that bale!’ in something like the way that ‘It's raining’ follows from ‘It's windy and it's raining.’ But it is harder to say how to include other forms: does ‘Shut the door or shut the window!’ follow from ‘Shut the window!’, for example? The usual way to develop an imperative logic is to work in terms of the possibility of satisfying the one command without satisfying the other, thereby turning it into a variation of ordinary deductive logic.

A grammatical category describing verbs that command or request: “Leave town by tonight”; “Please hand me the spoon.”

IN BRIEF: Urgent, essential.

Every man has his own destiny; the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him. — Henry Miller (1891-1980), American writer.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - tvingende nødvendig, påkrævet, uomgængelig
n. - imperativ

idioms:

• imperative mood    imperativ (måde)

Nederlands (Dutch)
noodzakelijk, gebiedende wijs, bevelend, verplicht (ing), gebod

Français (French)
adj. - impératif, urgent, impérieux
n. - impératif, (Ling) impératif

idioms:

• imperative mood    (Ling) mode impératif

Deutsch (German)
n. - Befehlsform, Imperativ, Befehl
adj. - befehlend, dringend, zwingend, imperativisch

idioms:

• imperative mood    Imperativ, Befehlsform

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (γραμμ.) προστακτική (έγκλιση), προσταγή, επιτακτική ανάγκη
adj. - επιτακτικός, αυταρχικός, (γραμμ.) της προστακτικής

idioms:

• imperative mood    (γραμμ.) προστακτική (έγκλιση)

Italiano (Italian)
imperativo

idioms:

• imperative mood    modo imperativo

Português (Portuguese)
n., -
adj. - imperativo

idioms:

• imperative mood    modo (m) imperativo (Gram.)

Русский (Russian)
обязанность, приказ, властный, настоятельный

idioms:

• imperative mood    повелительное наклонение

Español (Spanish)
adj. - imperativo, imperioso, perentorio, obligatorio
n. - imperativo, mandato perentorio, necesidad imperiosa

idioms:

• imperative mood    modo imperativo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - imperativ (språkv.), befallning, tvingande nödvändighet
adj. - tvingande, befallande, bindande, imperativ (språkv.)

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
命令式的, 势在必行的, 急需的, 命令, 需要, 诫命

idioms:

• imperative mood    祈使语气

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 命令式的, 勢在必行的, 急需的
n. - 命令, 需要, 誡命

idioms:

• imperative mood    祈使語氣

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 필수적인, 피할 수 없는, 긴급한, 명령법의
n. - 명령, 의무, 규범

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 絶対必要な, 緊急の, 命令的な, いばった, 命令法の, 厳然たる
n. - 命令法

idioms:

• imperative mood    命令法, 命令形

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) صيغه الأمر (صفه) أمري‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮הכרחי, חיוני, סמכותי, מצווה‬
n. - ‮ציווי (בדקדוק), ציווי, דבר חיוני או דחוף‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.