1
as in domineering
fond of ordering people around
an imperious little boy who liked to tell the other scouts what to do
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in arrogant
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
an imperious movie star who thinks she's some sort of goddess
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in arbitrary
having or showing a tendency to force one's will on others without any regard to fairness or necessity
an office administrator with an imperious manner that really grates on people
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in urgent
needing immediate attention
as war casualties mounted, the need for trained nurses became imperious
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of imperious
There are six pairs of actors playing the two leads (along with several different Raouls and Madame Girys, the latter being our spooky, imperious tour guide through the whole shebang).
—
Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
Behind the imperious trio of Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Odyssey Sims, the Indiana Fever fought off the Las Vegas Aces 90-83 to force their WNBA semifinal series to a win-or-go-home Game 5 in Sin City on Tuesday night.
—Frank Nunns O'Connell 11 Hr Ago, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
Premier League leader Liverpool cannot stop winning and enters Saturday's Merseyside derby in imperious form.
—Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Frida’s terminally ill mom, Victoria (Montse Guallar), escapes into a hedonistic haze of morphine, imperious behavior, and pansexual dalliances.
—Judy Berman, Time, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for imperious
Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
Behind the imperious trio of Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Odyssey Sims, the Indiana Fever fought off the Las Vegas Aces 90-83 to force their WNBA semifinal series to a win-or-go-home Game 5 in Sin City on Tuesday night.
—Frank Nunns O'Connell 11 Hr Ago, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2025
Premier League leader Liverpool cannot stop winning and enters Saturday's Merseyside derby in imperious form.
—Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Frida’s terminally ill mom, Victoria (Montse Guallar), escapes into a hedonistic haze of morphine, imperious behavior, and pansexual dalliances.
—Judy Berman, Time, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for imperious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imperious
Adjective
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In the new film, a young Victor (Christian Convery) is raised by a cruel, domineering dad (Charles Dance) but loves his mother (Mia Goth).—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
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Ladd played Lula’s domineering mother and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.—
Eric Andersson,
PEOPLE,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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So long as that situation continues, the 43-year-old’s allegedly arrogant and stand-offish treatment of his players will not worry the club hierarchy too much.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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The pilot opens with Powell’s character, arrogant college quarterback Russ Holliday, leading his Oregon Ducks team in the National Championship game against Georgia at the Rose Bowl.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Yet, the severity of gendered crime during Partition wasn’t caused by an arbitrary upsurge of madness.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
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Several lawsuits have already been filed challenging the fee and selection changes, with universities, labor groups, and business organizations arguing that the administration exceeded its authority and that the new rules are arbitrary.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Singing this material with players who improvise — solos changing, every version being a little different — taught me about that urgent live-ensemble space where everyone’s living and dying by the next player onstage.—
Shirley Halperin,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
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This urgent political thriller about Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh opened the 2025 Venice International Film Festival before moving on to Telluride, Toronto, New York and London.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Meanwhile, the country moves into an authoritarian state and Josh's family faces the ramifications.—
Ralphie Aversa,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
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But any agreement reached will be just one touchstone in a thorny and volatile great power rivalry between the world’s superpower democracy and an authoritarian China, whose growing military assertiveness under Xi in the East and South China Seas is rattling US allies in the region.—
Betsy Klein,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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According to Richards’ method, all meaning would be yielded by acute attention to the thing itself.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
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Across Sudan, the IPC said more than 21 million people, or 45% of the population, faced acute food insecurity as of September, a 6% drop from the previous report which covered the period from December 2024 until May this year.—
NPR,
NPR,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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But having the goods to back up your inflammatory beliefs is hardly the point of Grokipedia, a platform simply meant to appear authoritative in its own right.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
28 Oct. 2025
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Brown, after an authoritative start to the fourth quarter, went quiet down the stretch, scoring just two points in the final five minutes and missing his last three shots.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The autocratic czarist regime ruled with an iron hand and suppressed opposition through censorship, banishment, and executions.—
Karl Ove Knausgaard,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
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As with previous generations of Russians under autocratic rule, from tsarism to Soviet communism, there was no purpose in worrying about the causes of the storm.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Imperious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imperious. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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