Impatient

//ɪmˈpeɪʃənt// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Restless, short of temper, and intolerant of delays.

    "She dances when she becomes impatient."

  2. 2
    Anxious and eager, especially to begin or have something.

    "For, if (ſaid he) you throw among five Yahoos as much Food as would be ſufficient for fifty, they will, inſtead of eating peaceably, fall together by the ears, each ſingle one impatient to have all to itſelf; […]"

  3. 3
    Not to be borne; unendurable. obsolete

    "Dismayed with so defperate deadly wound, And eke impatient of unwonted payne, He lowdly bray'd with beastly yelling sownd"

  4. 4
    Prompted by, or exhibiting, impatience.

    "impatient speeches or replies"

Adjective
  1. 1
    (usually followed by ‘to’) full of eagerness wordnet
  2. 2
    restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
restiveabruptagitatedagogalacritousall agog

Example

More examples

"Before the horse race begins, the jockeys grip the reins tightly to restrain the impatient horses."

Etymology

From Old French impacient (modern French impatient), from Latin impatiēns. By surface analysis, im- + patient.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.