Word of the Day:

February 10, 2022

peremptory

adjective puh-REMP-tuh-ree

What it Means

Peremptory means "expressive of urgency or command" or "marked by arrogant self-assurance."

// The soldiers were given a peremptory order to abandon the mission.

// The company's president has a peremptory manner about her especially at the negotiating table.

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Peremptory in Context

"Celeste had work e-mails flooding in. Her assistant had taken the entire fall off with a mysterious—even suspect—leg injury and now e-mailed Celeste fifteen times a day demanding, in peremptory and vaguely hostile tones, that Celeste fill out paperwork." — Greg Jackson, The New Yorker, 22 Apr. 2019

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Did You Know?

Peremptory comes from Latin perimere, which means "to take entirely" or "to destroy." The prefix per- means "thoroughly," and emere means "to take." Implying the removal of one's option to disagree or contest something, peremptory stays close to its roots.

Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of peremptory: i _ p _ _ a _ i _ _.

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