IMPERIOUS

disdainful, haughty, imperious, lordly, overbearing, prideful, sniffy, supercilious, swaggering

(adjective) having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; “some economists are disdainful of their colleagues in other social disciplines”; “haughty aristocrats”; “his lordly manners were offensive”; “walked with a prideful swagger”; “very sniffy about breaches of etiquette”; “his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air”; “a more swaggering mood than usual”- W.L.Shirer

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

imperious (not comparable)

Domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.

Urgent.

(obsolete) Imperial or regal.

Synonyms

• (domineering): authoritarian, bossy, dictatorial, domineering, overbearing

Source: Wiktionary


Im*pe"ri*ous, a. Etym: [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]

1. Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [Obs.] "A vast and imperious mind." Tilloison. Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness, Imperious. Shak.

2. Haughly; arrogant; overbearing; as, an imperious tyrant; an imperious manner. This imperious man will work us all From princes into pages. Shak. His bold, contemptuous, and imperious spirit soon made him conspicuous. Macaulay.

3. Imperative; urgent; compelling. Imperious need, which can not be withstood. Dryden.

Syn.

– Dictatorial; haughty; domineering; overbearing; lordly; tyrannical; despotic; arrogant; imperative; authoritative; commanding; pressing.

– Imperious, Lordly, Domineering. One who is imperious exercises his authority in a manner highly offensive for its spirit and tone; one who is lordly assumes a lofty air in order to display his importance; one who is domineering gives orders in a way to make other feel their inferiority.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

31 March 2025

IMPROVISED

(adjective) done or made using whatever is available; “crossed the river on improvised bridges”; “the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear”; “the rock served as a makeshift hammer”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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