Synonyms of impulses

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

• incentives
• encouragements
• motivations
• impetuses
• stimuli
• stimulants
• provocations
• momenta
• catalysts
• reasons
• yeasts
• incitements
• fuels
• spurs
• instigations
• goads
• inducements
• shots in the arm
• causes
• considerations
• motives
• boosts
• invitations
• incitations
• antecedents
• sparks
• grounds
• occasions
• catalyzers

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• disincentives
• counterincentives

2

as in tendencies

a habitual attraction to some activity or thing

the universal, fundamental impulse of self-preservation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tendencies
• inclinations
• aptitudes
• affinities
• affections
• devices
• proclivities
• biases
• predilections
• predispositions
• leanings
• appetites
• propensities
• dispositions
• talents
• addictions
• bones
• preferences
• bents
• prejudices
• penchants
• partialities
• gifts
• habitudes
• knacks
• geniuses
• habits
• turns
• tastes
• faculties
• endowments
• patterns
• fancies
• flairs
• favors
• practices
• customs
• likes
• partisanships
• likings
• eccentricities
• idiosyncrasies
• specialties
• conventions
• specialities
• peculiarities
• singularities
• routines
• quirks
• ways
• tricks
• fortes
• kinks
• oddities
• wonts

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• distastes
• allergies
• aversions
• dislikes
• disinclinations
• detachments
• disrelishes
• disfavors
• indifferences
• objectivities
• neutralities
• impartialities
• nonchalances
• insouciances
• apathies

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of impulses

Initially, diplomats assigned to the region sought to counter Bukele’s growing influence by sharply denouncing his anti-democratic impulses. — Daniel Castro, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2026

Sigmund Freud wrote that dreams were a kind of acting-out of repressed impulses. — Veronique Greenwood, Time, 18 Aug. 2026

In that collision of impulses, one name stands above the rest. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 17 Aug. 2026

Angels doesn’t feel architectural in nearly the same way, but the strange impulses and movements of the book are really appealing. — Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2026

The warring impulses ought to cancel each other out, but Dante orchestrates his films’ elements so deftly that the contradictions enrich each other and create a worldview more distinctive and complex than those of Lucas and Spielberg. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2026

The rise of Black power influenced Chicano activism, and many Mexican Americans increasingly shed illusions that they could be seen as white, at least legally so, and rejected assimilationist impulses. — Eladio Bobadilla, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026

The Venezuelan artist’s latest LP harks back to her experimental mixtapes &&&&& and @@@@@, trading the KiCK series’ pop and reggaeton impulses for confrontational, uncompromising electronic sounds. — Andrew Ryce, Pitchfork, 4 Aug. 2026

Bardstown Bourbon Company, which is well known for indulging its experimental impulses, decided to blend together bourbon and rye and finish it in pineapple rum barrels with pieces of pineapple added to the whiskey for good measure. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 2 Aug. 2026