What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Stately vs Imperious - What's the difference?

stately | imperious | Related terms |

Stately is a related term of imperious.


As adjectives the difference between stately and imperious

is that stately is of people: regal, dignified; worthy of respect while imperious is domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.

As an adverb stately

is in a stately manner.

stately

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Of people: regal, dignified; worthy of respect.
  • * 1900 , , The House Behind the Cedars , Chapter I,
  • Warwick's first glance had revealed the fact that the young woman was strikingly handsome, with a stately beauty seldom encountered.
  • Of movement: dignified; deliberate, unhurried.
  • * 2010 , "An own goal on gay rights", The Economist , 14 Oct 2010:
  • And much as they welcome his promise to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell”, they are dismayed by the stately pace and bungled tactics of his attempts to do so.
  • Imposing; grand, impressive.
  • Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a stately manner.
  • imperious

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.
  • * 1866 – , translated by C. J. Hogarth
  • ...she glanced about her in an imperious , challenging sort of way, with looks and gestures that clearly were unstudied.
  • Urgent.
  • * 1891
  • 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.
  • (obsolete) Imperial or regal.
  • * 1895
  • She was quick, beautiful, imperious , while he was quiet, slow, and misty.

    Synonyms

    * (domineering) authoritarian, bossy, dictatorial, domineering, overbearing