impulse
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
impuhlsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɪmpəls
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
A sudden desire
physics
The integral of force over time.
verb
transitive
To impel; to incite.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
Used this way, impulse is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Sudden and forceful
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use impulse
- “They demonstrated the transmission of impulses from the cortex to the hypothalamus.”noun
- “Profound religious impulses.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A turbine that is driven by jets direct against the blades.
Buy on impulse without proper reflection.
An explosive that is used to propel projectiles from guns or to propel rockets and missiles or to launch torpedos and depth charges.
A strong spontaneous and irrational motivation.
An urge to do or say something that might be better left undone or unsaid.
The electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.