Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality or condition of being impatient.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or character of lacking patience; restlessness under existing conditions; eager desire for relief or change.
  • noun Intolerance of anything that thwarts or hinders; passionate vehemence; in a milder sense, quickness of temper; touchiness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality of being impatient; lack of endurance of pain, suffering, opposition, or delay; eagerness for change, or for something expected; restlessness; chafing of spirit; fretfulness; passion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The quality of being impatient; lacking patience; restlessness and intolerance of delays; anxiety and eagerness, especially to begin something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a restless desire for change and excitement
  • noun a dislike of anything that causes delay
  • noun a lack of patience; irritation with anything that causes delay

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Nor do I think that this impatience is necessarily "in step" with right-wing cultural values.

    Art and Culture 2010

  • Point Two: This conservative impatience is bred solely out of ignorant fear, misstrust, and mistruths.

    Poll: Stimulus not working 2009

  • So we find a certain impatience and restlessness in their agenda.

    George Neumayr on "Nancy Pelosi's Modest Proposal" 2009

  • What Halberstam and Berube share, ultimately, is a plain impatience with if not disdain for trifling old literature.

    Satirical 2009

  • Obama needs to work harder to connect with moderates, even if their impatience is premature.

    Better Listen to Bill Clinton’s Good on Green Jobs. 2010

  • For long-term investors, this was an opportunity to "exploit the short-term impatience," says David Herro , portfolio manager for Oakmark International and Oakmark International Small Cap .

    Buying Japan Once Again Rob Curran 2011

  • Maybe it was to show that my impatience is something I need to come to terms with.

    Not to worry Andrew Beckner 2008

  • But I can understand a certain impatience with reading the millionth entry in the log of the USS Mary Sue (or Ye Unpredictably Capitalized Chonicles of Mary Sue, or whatever).

    Quote of the Day Lou Anders 2008

  • Maybe it was to show that my impatience is something I need to come to terms with.

    Archive 2008-01-01 Andrew Beckner 2008

  • I need something good to read & my impatience is starting to make an appearance!

    Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime. « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2007

Comments

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  • "Impatience has little to do with the notes themselves. Instead, it is a fight with time. Faced with a new piece of music, an unknown city, a difficult moment in your life, you want to leap over the anxiety and confusion, to be ahead of where you are. But most of the time the solutions you achieve in impatience are narrow and awkward. You establish your first response as a habit, then have to spend all your time trying to correct it, instead of waiting, listening, and learning more."

    —Glenn Kurtz, Practicing: A Musician's Return to Music (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), 101

    November 3, 2008