Adjective

(en adjective)

(legal) Precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal; positive; absolute; decisive; conclusive; final.

* 1596 , Francis Bacon, Maxims of the Law , II:

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.

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:

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."

(obsolete) Firmly determined, resolute; obstinate, stubborn.

Accepting no refusal or disagreement; imperious, dictatorial.

*

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.

* 1999 , Anthony Howard, The Guardian , 2 Jan 99:

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'.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Incapable of producing results; useless; not successful; not worth attempting.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or

*

*:There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.

*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 15, author=Marc Higginson, work=BBC Sport

, title= Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Tottenham , passage=Goals from Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend, Jermain Defoe and Harry Kane sealed the win, but Rubin Kazan's 1-1 draw against PAOK Salonika rendered Spurs' efforts futile .}}