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Definition of "impatient" []

  • Unable to wait patiently or tolerate delay; restless. (adjective)
  • Unable to endure irritation or opposition; intolerant: impatient of criticism. (adjective)
  • Expressing or produced by impatience: an impatient scowl. (adjective)
  • Restively eager or desirous; anxious: impatient to begin. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "impatient" in a sentence
  • "Coming slowly on through the forests of masts was a great steamship, beating the water in short impatient strokes with her heavy paddles as though she wanted room to breathe, and advancing in her huge bulk like a sea monster among the minnows of the Thames."
  • "Indeed by this time the whole party were gathered, and in impatient expectation that the dinner would make up to them in some degree for the various disappointments of the morning."
  • "With his head to one side, and smoking his cigar in short, impatient draughts, he listened."