impatient
- 1Feeling restless and short-tempered, and unwilling to put up with delays or waiting.
The passengers became impatient as the flight was delayed yet again.
An impatient customer drummed her fingers on the counter.
Similarrestless, irritable, edgy, agitated, fretful
Oppositepatient, calm, tolerant, composed
Note
The word's core meaning is visible in its parts. It came through Old French impacient from Latin impatiēns, and in English it reads plainly as im- plus patient: someone without patience. The impatient person will not let things unfold at their own pace. Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, writing in 1712, fault the impatient man who "will not give himself time to be informed of the matter that lies before him."
- 2Anxious and eager, especially to begin something or to have something soon.
Investors were impatient for the company to announce its results.
He felt impatient to leave the moment the meeting ended.
Similareager, anxious, keen, raring, desperate
Oppositepatient, reluctant, unhurried
Note
Here impatience points forward rather than outward. The feeling is eagerness for what is coming, not irritation at what stands in the way. It usually takes a to-infinitive (impatient to leave) or for (impatient for news). Jonathan Swift gives a greedy version in 1726, with his Yahoos each "impatient to have all to itself." The construction helps tell it from the short-tempered meaning: impatient to begin is eager, while impatient at delays is annoyed.
- 3Prompted by or expressing impatience, as in a gesture, tone, or remark.
An impatient knock sounded at the door.
She answered with an impatient snap that silenced the room.
Similarirritated, exasperated, brusque, curt, testy
Note
The impatience moves from the person to what the person does or says: an answer, a knock, a tone of voice. Shakespeare uses it this way in A Midsummer Night's Dream: "will you tear / Impatient answers from my gentle tongue?" It pairs naturally with nouns of speech and gesture, such as impatient speeches or replies. In this use the adjective describes the act itself rather than the person behind it.
Less common meaning
- 4Impossible to bear or endure; intolerable.
Note
This is a meaning to recognize in older verse, not to use. The word once described something that could not be endured. Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) has a wounded beast "impatient of unwonted payne," where the weight falls on pain beyond bearing. A modern reader will hear the restless meaning instead. In present-day writing, unendurable or intolerable carries this idea without confusion.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of impatient apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from Old French impacient (modern French impatient), from Latin impatiēns. By surface analysis, it breaks down into im- plus patient.