imperious : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: imperious	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for imperious
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
imperious adj having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; "some economists are disdainful of their colleagues in other social disciplines"; "haughty aristocrats"; "his lordly manners were offensive"; "walked with a prideful swagger"; "very sniffy about breaches of etiquette"; "his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air"; "a more swaggering mood than usual"- W.L.Shirer Synonym(s): disdainful, haughty, imperious, lordly, overbearing, prideful, sniffy, supercilious, swaggering
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Imperious \Impe"rious\, a. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. imp[82]rieux. See {Imperial}.] 1. Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [Obs.] [bd]A vast and imperious mind.[b8] --Tilloison. Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness, Imperious. --Shak. 2. Haughly; arrogant; overbearing; as, an imperious tyrant; an imperious manner. This imperious man will work us all From princes into pages. --Shak. His bold, contemptuous, and imperious spirit soon made him conspicuous. --Macaulay. 3. Imperative; urgent; compelling. Imperious need, which can not be withstood. --Dryden. Syn: Dictatorial; haughty; domineering; overbearing; lordly; tyrannical; despotic; arrogant; imperative; authoritative; commanding; pressing. Usage: {Imperious}, {Lordly}, {Domineering}. One who is imperious exercises his authority in a manner highly offensive for its spirit and tone; one who is lordly assumes a lofty air in order to display his importance; one who is domineering gives orders in a way to make other feel their inferiority.