impatience

[ im-pey-shuhns ]
See synonyms for impatience on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. lack of patience.

  2. eager desire for relief or change; restlessness.

  1. intolerance of anything that thwarts, delays, or hinders.

Origin of impatience

1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English impacience, from Latin impatientia; see im-2, patience

Words Nearby impatience

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use impatience in a sentence

  • I waited three months more, in great impatience, then sent him back to the same post, to see if there might be a reply.

    The Boarded-Up House | Augusta Huiell Seaman
  • Liszt looked at it, and to her fright and dismay cried out in a fit of impatience, "No, I won't hear it!"

  • Felipe was so full of impatience to continue his search, that he hardly listened to the Father's words.

    Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
  • But he could not bear the reflection, and with fevered impatience, he hurried through the business of the morning.

  • Perhaps their course is wiser than that which hot impatience would prompt—nay, I believe it is.

    Glances at Europe | Horace Greeley

British Dictionary definitions for impatience

impatience

/ (ɪmˈpeɪʃəns) /


noun
  1. lack of patience; intolerance of or irritability with anything that impedes or delays

  2. restless desire for change and excitement

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012