imperativeness
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im·per·a·tive
(ĭm-pĕr′ə-tĭv)adj.
1. Necessary or urgent: "It is imperative that we continue to move with speed to make housing more affordable" (Timothy Geithner). See Synonyms at urgent.
2. Expressing a command or plea; peremptory: requests that grew more and more imperative.
3. Grammar Of, relating to, or constituting the mood that expresses a command or request.
n.
1.
a. A rule, principle, or need that requires or compels certain action: "the internal tension in [military] doctrine, between the desire to prescribe a common way of fighting and the imperative of adjusting particular military actions to circumstances" (Eliot A. Cohen).
b. A command; an order.
2. Grammar
a. The imperative mood.
b. A verb form of the imperative mood.
[Middle English imperatif, relating to the imperative mood, from Old French, from Late Latin imperātīvus, from Latin imperātus, past participle of imperāre, to command; see emperor.]
im·per′a·tive·ly adv.
im·per′a·tive·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Noun 1. imperativeness - the state of demanding notice or attention; "the insistence of their hunger"; "the press of business matters"
urgency - the state of being urgent; an earnest and insistent necessity
2. imperativeness - the quality of being insistent; "he pressed his demand with considerable instancy"
urgency - pressing importance requiring speedy action; "the urgency of his need"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.