imperiously
Americanadverb
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in a domineering or haughty manner.
She held out her hand imperiously, but the messenger did not immediately hand over the letter.
-
in an imperative way; urgently.
The need to be accepted can be felt as imperiously as the needs for food, clothing, and shelter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of imperiously
Explanation
Use the adverb imperiously to describe a manner that is domineering and authoritative. Shouting, "Sit! Stay!" imperiously might work well on the dog, but it won't necessarily work on your friends. Imperiously comes from the Latin word imperare, which means "to command." Other words from this same root include empire, emperor, imperial, and imperative. Like imperiously, all of these words retain some sense of command in their definitions. When you were three, you might have imperiously announced to your toys that they must come to life immediately, or you would banish them to the dark wasteland known as the closet.
Vocabulary lists containing imperiously
Of Mice and Men
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Great Expectations
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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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.
Imperiously he ordered a young man to stand aside for the "Kingfish of Louisiana."
From Time Magazine Archive
Imperiously he announced: "Gentlemen, I control this company."
From Time Magazine Archive
Imperiously, De Gaulle refused Debr�'s resignation and fired off orders to General Maurice Challe, French commander in chief in Algeria.
From Time Magazine Archive
Imperiously as though he were Pizarro's self, he drew a line in the dust of the trail.
From The Covered Wagon by Hough, Emerson
Imperiously turning to her acolyte, she seized the censer filled with copal, and, having lighted it, incensed the figures.
From In Indian Mexico (1908) by Starr, Frederick
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.
