impatience
Americannoun
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lack of patience.
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eager desire for relief or change; restlessness.
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intolerance of anything that thwarts, delays, or hinders.
noun
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lack of patience; intolerance of or irritability with anything that impedes or delays
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restless desire for change and excitement
Etymology
Origin of impatience
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English impacience, from Latin impatientia; im- 2, patience
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In general, they always prefer early records because they’re filled with that youthful sort of impatience.
From Los Angeles Times
Her hand cut through the air in a gesture of impatience.
From Literature
“I’m sure it happened all the time, Edda,” Theo says, with compassion but also, I think, a touch of impatience.
From Literature
My impatience to talk to Regan face.to-face had me standing outside my dorm room after curfew, something that I’d never done before.
From Literature
The US President has previously signalled his impatience with the lack of swift progress in solving the four-year conflict.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
