adjective
- Proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus.
- usage: "an impulsive gesture of affection"
- synonyms: unprompted
- Without forethought.
- usage: "letting him borrow her car was an impulsive act that she immediately regretted"
- Having the power of driving or impelling.
- usage: "a driving personal ambition"; "the driving force was his innate enthusiasm"; "an impulsive force"
- synonyms: driving
- Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason.
- usage: "a capricious refusal"; "authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious"; "the victim of whimsical persecutions"
- synonyms: capricious, whimsical
- Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation."a hotheaded decision"; "liable to such impulsive acts as hugging strangers"; "an impetuous display of spending and gambling"; "madcap escapades"; (`brainish' is archaic)
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). Impulsive. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/impulsive/definitions/1176247 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "Impulsive" http://smartdefine.org/impulsive/definitions/1176247 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, Impulsive, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/impulsive/definitions/1176247>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "Impulsive" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/impulsive/definitions/1176247> |