Impulsive

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impulsive \Im*pul"sive\, a. [Cf. F. impulsif.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an
        impulse; moving; impellent.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              Poor men! poor papers! We and they
              Do some impulsive force obey.         --Prior.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Actuated by impulse or by transient feelings.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My heart, impulsive and wayward.      --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Mech.) Acting momentarily, or by impulse; not continuous;
        -- said of forces.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impulsive \Im*pul"sive\, n.
     That which impels or gives an impulse; an impelling agent.
     --Sir W. Wotton.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impulsive
       adj 1: proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external
              stimulus; "an impulsive gesture of affection" [syn: {unprompted}]
       2: without forethought; "letting him borrow her car was an
          impulsive act that she immediately regretted"
       3: having the power of driving or impelling; "a driving
          personal ambition"; "the driving force was his innate
          enthusiasm"; "an impulsive force" [syn: {driving}]
       4: determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by
          necessity or reason; "a capricious refusal";
          "authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious"; "the
          victim of whimsical persecutions" [syn: {capricious}, {whimsical}]
       5: 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) [syn: {hotheaded}, {impetuous}, {madcap},
           {tearaway(a)}, {brainish}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  238 Moby Thesaurus words for "impulsive":
     a bit previous, abrupt, actuating, adrift, advanced, afloat,
     alternating, amorphous, animating, automatic, blind, breakneck,
     breathless, brittle, capricious, causal, causative, changeable,
     changeful, changing, choppy, compelling, compulsive, conditioned,
     corruptible, deciduous, desultory, deviable, deviating, deviative,
     deviatory, devil-may-care, different, directive, disorderly,
     divaricate, divergent, diversified, diversiform, dizzy, driving,
     dying, eccentric, electrifying, emotional, ephemeral, erose,
     erratic, evanescent, extemporaneous, fading, far ahead,
     fast and loose, fickle, fitful, fleeting, flickering, flighty,
     flitting, fluctuating, fly-by-night, flying, foolhardy, forced,
     forward, fragile, frail, freakish, fugacious, fugitive, giddy,
     half-baked, half-cocked, hasty, headlong, ill-considered,
     immediate, impatient, impellent, impelling, impermanent, impetuous,
     inconsistent, inconstant, indecisive, inducive, infirm, inherent,
     innate, instinctive, insubstantial, involuntary, irregular,
     irresolute, irresponsible, jagged, jerky, libidinal, madcap, mazy,
     mechanical, mercurial, momentary, moody, mortal, motivating,
     motivational, motive, motley, moving, mutable, natural,
     nerve-shattering, nonconformist, nondurable, nonpermanent,
     nonstandard, nonuniform, not firm, offhand, overhasty, oversoon,
     panting, passing, perishable, pluralistic, precipitant,
     precipitate, precipitous, precocious, premature, pressing,
     previous, pulsive, quick, ragged, rambling, rash, reckless, reflex,
     reflexive, restless, rough, roving, rushed, scatterbrained,
     shapeless, shifting, shifty, shocking, short-lived, shuffling,
     snap, spasmodic, speedy, spineless, spontaneous, sporadic,
     spur-of-the-moment, startling, subliminal, sudden, surprising,
     swift, temporal, temporary, thrusting, too early, too soon,
     transient, transitive, transitory, unaccountable, unanticipated,
     uncertain, unconscious, unconsidered, uncontrolled, uncrystallized,
     undependable, undisciplined, undurable, unenduring, unequable,
     unequal, uneven, unexpected, unfixed, unforeseen, unintentional,
     unjelled, unlearned, unlooked-for, unmatured, unmeditated,
     unorthodox, unplanned, unpredictable, unpredicted, unpremeditated,
     unprepared, unprompted, unreliable, unrestrained, unripe,
     unsettled, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast,
     unsteady, unsystematic, unthinking, untimely, ununiform, unwilled,
     unwilling, unwitting, urgent, vacillating, vagrant, variable,
     variegated, variform, various, varying, vicissitudinary,
     vicissitudinous, volatile, wandering, wanton, wavering, wavery,
     wavy, wayward, whimsical, wild, wishy-washy