impetuous
adjective

- acting or done quickly and without thinking carefully about the results

Oxford Learner’s Dictionary

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ORIGIN

From Old French, impetueux; from Late Latin, impetuosus, from Latin, impetus.

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THE IMPETUOUS MP*

In the 1930s Winston Churchill’s critics called him rash, IMPETUOUS, tactless, contentious, inconsistent, unsound, an amusing parliamentary celebrity who was forever out of step.

‘We just don’t know what to make of him,’ a troubled MP told Lady Astor. She answered brightly: ‘How about a nice rug?’”

Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess (1879-1964) American-born English politician, British MP noted for her frequent run-ins with Winston Churchill.

*MP = Member of Parliament

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SYNONYMS

IMPETUOUS, heedless, hasty, headlong, precipitate, sudden

So what’s the difference?

IMPETUOUS suggests forceful impulsiveness or impatience - “A race driver who was flamboyant, impetuous, disdainful of death” (Jim Murray).

HEEDLESS implies carelessness or lack of responsibility or proper regard for consequences - “Hobbling down stairs with heedless haste, I set my foot full in a pail of water” (Richard Steele).

HASTY and HEADLONG both stress hurried, often reckless action - “Hasty marriage seldom proveth well” (Shakespeare). “In his headlong flight down the circular staircase,… he had pitched forward violently, struck his head against the door to the east veranda, and probably broken his neck” (Mary Roberts Rinehart).

PRECIPITATE suggests impulsiveness and lack of due reflection - “It was a precipitate and fateful decision.”

SUDDEN applies to what becomes apparent abruptly or unexpectedly - “He is given to sudden fits of anger.”

Source: The American Heritage Dictionary

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PRACTICE OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:

“Let’s not make an IMPETUOUS decision, let’s carefully consider all the alternatives.”

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THANKS to Jo for suggesting today’s word.

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Paul Smith