Showing Results for "imposed"

See Also:

• past participle of impose.
• past tense form of impose.

imposed

American  

[im-pohzd] / ɪmˈpoʊzd /

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.

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• subimposed
  adjective
• unimposed
  adjective
• well-imposed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of imposed

impose ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Something that is imposed is usually unwelcome and unpleasant and is expected to be endured — like higher taxes or unwelcome guests. The adjective imposed comes from the Latin imponere, "to place upon, to inflict or deceive." An imposed tax is one placed upon you by law. The English word comes by way of the Middle French verb imposer, meaning "to lay a burden." So if you are imposed upon by an unwanted guest, you'll have to endure an imposed visit.

Example Sentences

Imposed since April 30, the jihadist blockade was on Wednesday still causing chaos on essential roads towards Bamako, the capital of a landlocked country dependent on imports by trucks.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

Appeared in the April 11, 2026, print edition as 'When the Supreme Court Nearly Imposed Anarchy on Oklahoma'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Imposed illusion makes it harder to talk about things that must be talked about.

From Slate • Dec. 6, 2020

Imposed on businesses and smuggling, it raises vast sums.

From The Guardian • Nov. 30, 2015

Exalted souls Have passions in proportion violent, Resistless, and tormenting; they're a tax Imposed by nature on pre-eminence, And fortitude and wisdom must support them.

From Many Thoughts of Many Minds A Treasury of Quotations from the Literature of Every Land and Every Age by Klopsch, Louis

Related Words

• prescribed
• required
• sanctioned