Word of the Day

: March 27, 2022

impetus

noun IM-puh-tus

What It Means

An impetus is "a force that causes or encourages something to be done or to become more active."

// The high salary and generous benefits package were impetus enough to apply for the job.

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impetus in Context

"Social media is often the impetus for the feeling of FOMO. Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, said she first heard about FOMO in relation to social media because it 'ratchets up the likelihood that you'll hear about an event you weren't invited to and have to actually see photos of the smiling, happy people who are at the event.'" — Alexis Benveniste, The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2022

Did You Know?

Impetus comes from the Latin verb impetere, meaning "to attack," which is a combination of the prefix in-, meaning "toward," with petere, meaning "to go to" or "to seek." Hence, impetus describes the kind of force that encourages an action ("The impetus behind the project") or the momentum of an action already begun ("The meetings only gave impetus to the rumors of a merger").