impulses

noun

plural of impulse
1
as in incentives
something that arouses action or activity the new auto factory was just the impulse that the local economy needed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tendencies
a habitual attraction to some activity or thing the universal, fundamental impulse of self-preservation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of impulses The task of a deliberate legislative body is to reconcile those very different impulses. — Gibbs Knotts, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026 In the fullness of time it was arguably subjugated by the burgeoning corporation’s commercial impulses. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026 From 18 to 21, the brain is hyper-sensitive to excitement, but isn’t yet fully capable of controlling impulses or evaluating risk. — Amy L. Kennedy, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026 Their art drew energy from the tension between those impulses. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026 But the nanos are taking over him, and these primal impulses are bubbling up within him. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 26 Oct. 2026 Those impulses may have been shaped not by paranoia, but by evolution, as a way of staving off sickness in an uncertain world. — Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026 The idea that there are huge positive benefits from AI at scale seems to have come back to the forefront, rather than some of the doomer impulses that maybe a year or two ago were there. — Nilay Patel, The Verge, 22 Oct. 2026 Fontfroide inspired Fayet himself toward new artistic impulses. — Julie Coe, Architectural Digest, 20 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impulses
  1. incentives
  2. tendencies
  3. encouragements
  4. inclinations
  5. motivations
  6. aptitudes
  7. impetuses
  8. affinities
Noun
  • The fund plans to acquire stakes in audiovisual companies and provide financing for individual productions, including participatory loans tied to presales, distribution agreements and tax incentives, as well as gap financing.
    — Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Check whether individual and departmental incentives support the company’s broader objectives or encourage people to optimize at one another’s expense.
    — Dr. Nore Salman, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of incentives
Noun
  • The questionnaires typically ask about overall personality tendencies, and so cover a very long time period.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 2 Nov. 2026
  • From Fulton Market to Lincoln Park to Woodlawn, these six new projects — now in progress or under construction — show some new tendencies in the Chicago tall building.
    — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of tendencies
Noun
  • Many folks send encouragements toward OP mom and her son, while others put heat on the other parents for sexualizing their kids’ friendship.
    — DeVonne Goode, Parents, 26 July 2026
  • All through the park, competitors and onlookers hit vapes and shout tips and encouragements into trees.
    — Calin Van Paris, Outside, 19 Mar. 2026
Definition of encouragements
Noun
  • Meanwhile, the electorate’s broad inclinations were plainly if not precisely depicted.
    — W Joseph Campbell, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026
  • In 1860, Muybridge was thrown from a carriage, resulting in a head injury that radically changed his personality and possibly heightened his artistic inclinations.
    — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of inclinations
Noun
  • But Pessiglione suspects that psychological factors, such as motivations and beliefs, also play a key role.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The outlet also recently indicated that there might be financial motivations behind Harry’s desire to reconcile with his family.
    — StyleCaster Editors, StyleCaster, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of motivations
Noun
  • For this class, the premise is that your purpose in life lies to the intersection of your values, your aptitudes and your interests.
    — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 6 May 2026
  • This model reflects Japan’s long-standing corporate culture, which prioritizes new hires for their general potential—their aptitudes and aspirations, as opposed to their current skill sets or university majors—and then trains them on the job.
    — GRACIA LIU-FARRER, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2025
Definition of aptitudes
Noun
  • One of the main impetuses for this is that newer planes are flying further, which means airline routes are getting longer.
    — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 June 2025
Definition of impetuses
Noun
  • Beyond Carrington and Vicuña’s stylistic affinities, Lehmann and Norris pointed out how the reception of the artists’ work has changed over the decades and that both have only been canonized relatively recently.
    — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
  • With its affinities for isolation and, at times, imposing scale, Land art conjures archaeology and the geological sublime—vast expanses of space and time.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of affinities

Browse Nearby Words

impulse
impulses
impulsion
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Impulses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impulses. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All