imposed

[im-pohzd]

adjective

1. laid on by someone, especially an authority, as something to be endured, obeyed, paid, etc..

   Offenders receive swiftly imposed but meaningful community service assignments, which the court monitors daily for compliance.

2. thrust or forced upon someone else, as one’s tastes, ideas, company, etc..

   I pray for my children to grow confidently into who they have been created to be, free from the pressure of imposed reputation and expectation.

3. created or established forcibly or artificially rather than developing naturally.

   All living systems organize and reorganize themselves into adaptive patterns and structures without any externally imposed plan or direction.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of impose.

Other Word Forms

• subimposed adjective
• unimposed adjective
• well-imposed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of imposed¹

impose ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

In Cameroon's English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, where a long-running separatist conflict continues, an election boycott lockdown has been imposed, paralysing business activities, movement and education.

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He indicated in a social-media post that the duties will come on top of 30% imposed this year on China, as well as tariffs in place on many Chinese goods before the year started.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Yet the virtuosity came with the vision; it was imposed on him before he imposed it on the page.

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Beijing has used government investigations into American companies to place pressure on the U.S., which over the years has steadily imposed an ever-growing thicket of export restrictions and tariffs on Chinese goods.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The best rule here, though, is the one I wish I’d imposed back in the day: “No electronic devices in the bedroom overnight.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• prescribed 
• required www.thesaurus.com
• sanctioned