1. Of greatest importance
   "It is imperative to address these issues to improve well-being";
   - paramount
    
2. Requiring attention or action
   "as nuclear weapons proliferate, preventing war becomes imperative"; "requests that grew more and more imperative"
    
3. (grammar) relating to verbs in the imperative mood
   "The teacher used imperative sentences to give instructions to the class"

1. Some duty that is essential and urgent
   "Completing the project by the deadline became an imperative"
    
2. A verb in the imperative mood
   "In the sentence 'Stop talking!', 'stop' is an imperative verb";
   - imperative verb
    
3. A mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behaviour
   "The command 'Stop!' is in the imperative mood";
   - imperative mood, jussive mood, imperative form

Derived forms: imperatives

See also: adjuratory, assertive, clamant, crucial, crying, desperate, exigent, important, insistent, instant, peremptory, pressing, self-asserting, self-assertive, shrill, strident, urgent

Type of: duty, modality, mode, mood, obligation, responsibility, verb

Antonym: beseeching

Encyclopedia: Imperative