impatient

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See also: împâtient and inpatient

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French impacient (modern French impatient), from Latin impatiēns.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɪmˈpeɪʃənt/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: im‧pa‧tient

Adjective[edit]

impatient (comparative more impatient, superlative most impatient)

  1. Restless and intolerant of delays.
  2. Anxious and eager, especially to begin or have something.
    • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Great Love of His Native Country. []”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. [] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: [] Benj[amin] Motte, [], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 258:
      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. (obsolete) Not to be borne; unendurable.
  4. Prompted by, or exhibiting, impatience.
    impatient speeches or replies

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin impatientem. Morphologically analyzable as im- +‎ patient.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

impatient (feminine impatiente, masculine plural impatients, feminine plural impatientes)

  1. impatient

Noun[edit]

impatient m (plural impatients, feminine impatiente)

  1. impatient person

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]