Adjective: impulsive im'púl-siv
- Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation
"liable to such impulsive acts as hugging strangers";
- hotheaded, impetuous, madcap, tearaway, brainish [archaic]
- Without forethought
"letting him borrow her car was an impulsive act that she immediately regretted"
- Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
"Her impulsive decision to quit her job surprised everyone";
- capricious, whimsical, vagarious
- Proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus
"an impulsive gesture of affection";
- unprompted
- Having motive force; controlling or impelling
"an impulsive force";
- driving
See also: arbitrary, dynamic, dynamical, incautious, self-generated, spontaneous, unpremeditated
Encyclopedia: Impulsive