imperativeadjective
uk/ɪmˈper.ə.tɪv/us/ɪmˈper.ə.t̬ɪv/imperative adjective (URGENT)
C2 extremely important or urgent:
[ + that ] The president said it was imperative that the release of all hostages be secured.
[ + to infinitive ] It's imperative to act now before the problem gets really serious.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Very important or urgent
- all-important
- arch
- at all cost(s) idiom
- be a matter of life and/or death idiom
- burning
- chief
- considerable
- critical
- major league
- make the world go around/round idiom
- materially
- minor league
- mission-critical
- prized
- radical
- sacred
- salient
- serious
- seriously
- substantial
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imperative adjective (GRAMMAR)
specialized language used to describe the form of a verb that is usually used for giving orders:
In the phrase "Leave him alone!", the verb "leave" is in the imperative form.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Linguistics: verb forms, tenses & types of verbs
- accusative
- arose
- art
- aspect
- began
- bent
- ditransitive
- historic present
- linking verb
- main verb
- passivize
- past participle
- predicate
- progressive
- the future perfect
- the pluperfect
- the present simple
- the third person
- transitive
- wast
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imperativenoun
uk/ɪmˈper.ə.tɪv/us/ɪmˈper.ə.t̬ɪv/imperative noun (GRAMMAR)
B2 [ S ] specialized language the form of a verb that is usually used for giving orders:
In the phrase "Leave him alone!", the verb "leave" is an imperative/is in the imperative.
More examples
- A sentence that is a command, such as 'Stand over there', contains an imperative.
- The next lesson teaches you how to use the imperative tense of Spanish verbs correctly.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Linguistics: verb forms, tenses & types of verbs
- accusative
- arose
- art
- aspect
- began
- bent
- ditransitive
- historic present
- linking verb
- main verb
- passivize
- past participle
- predicate
- progressive
- the future perfect
- the pluperfect
- the present simple
- the third person
- transitive
- wast
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imperative noun (URGENT)
[ C ] something that is extremely important or urgent:
Getting the unemployed back to work, said the mayor, is a moral imperative.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Important and essential things
- -based
- amenity
- be-all
- big league
- biggie
- building block
- flagship
- grandaddy
- heavyweight
- hot button
- kernel
- keynote
- keystone
- nucleus
- pivot
- precondition
- prerequisite
- priority
- requisite
- sine qua non
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