IMPULSIVE
Dictionary entry overview: What does impulsive mean?
• IMPULSIVE (adjective)
The adjective IMPULSIVE has 5 senses:
1. proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus
2. without forethought
3. having the power of driving or impelling
4. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
5. characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation
Familiarity information: IMPULSIVE used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
• IMPULSIVE (adjective)
Meaning:
Proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus
Synonyms:
impulsive; unprompted
Context example:
an impulsive gesture of affection
Similar:
self-generated; spontaneous (happening or arising without apparent external cause)
Meaning:
Without forethought
Context example:
letting him borrow her car was an impulsive act that she immediately regretted
Similar:
unpremeditated (not premeditated)
Meaning:
Having the power of driving or impelling
Synonyms:
driving; impulsive
Context examples:
a driving personal ambition / the driving force was his innate enthusiasm / an impulsive force
Similar:
dynamic; dynamical (characterized by action or forcefulness or force of personality)
Meaning:
Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
Synonyms:
whimsical; capricious; impulsive
Context examples:
a capricious refusal / authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious / the victim of whimsical persecutions
Similar:
arbitrary (based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice)
Meaning:
Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation
Synonyms:
brainish; impetuous; madcap; tearaway; hotheaded; impulsive
Context examples:
a hotheaded decision / liable to such impulsive acts as hugging strangers / an impetuous display of spending and gambling / madcap escapades
Similar:
incautious (lacking in caution)
Domain usage:
archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)
