Imperious vs Peremptory - What's the difference?
imperious | peremptory |
Domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.
* 1866 – , translated by C. J. Hogarth
Urgent.
* 1891 –
(obsolete) Imperial or regal.
* 1895 –
(legal) Precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal; positive; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final.
* 1596 , Francis Bacon, Maxims of the Law , II:
Positive in opinion or judgment; absolutely certain, overconfident, unwilling to hear any debate or argument (especially in a pejorative sense); dogmatic.
* 2003 , Andrew Marr, The Guardian , 6 Jan 03:
(obsolete) Firmly determined, resolute; obstinate, stubborn.
Accepting no refusal or disagreement; imperious, dictatorial.
*
* 1999 , Anthony Howard, The Guardian , 2 Jan 99:
In obsolete terms the difference between imperious and peremptory
is that imperious is imperial or regal while peremptory is firmly determined, resolute; obstinate, stubborn.As adjectives the difference between imperious and peremptory
is that imperious is domineering, arrogant, or overbearing while peremptory is precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal; positive; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final.imperious
English
Adjective
(-)- ...she glanced about her in an imperious , challenging sort of way, with looks and gestures that clearly were unstudied.
- Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth.
- She was quick, beautiful, imperious , while he was quiet, slow, and misty.
Synonyms
* (domineering) authoritarian, bossy, dictatorial, domineering, overbearingperemptory
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- there is no reason but if any of the outlawries be indeed without error, but it should be a peremptory plea to the person in a writ of error, as well as in any other action.
- He marched under a placard reading "End Bossiness Now" but decided it was a little too peremptory , not quite British, so changed the slogan on subsequent badges, to "End Bossiness Soon."
- less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book. Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.
- Though today (surveying that yellowing document) I shudder at the peremptory tone of the instructions I gave, Alastair - in that same volume in which I get chastised for my coverage of the Macmillan rally - was generous enough to remark that my memorandum became 'an office classic'.
