Skip to content
GREMockTests
GRE vocabulary

imperious

adjectiveHigh-frequency wordMore I words

arrogantly domineering or commanding

Word origin: From Latin imperium, command or authority.

Start a free GRE mock test 39 minutes · free · instant score
In a sentence

Imperious in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing imperious in a sentence.

With an imperious wave, the duchess dismissed the servants from the room.

With an imperious wave she dismissed the petitioners before they had finished speaking.

Synonyms
overbearingdomineeringhigh-handeddictatorial

Quick GRE check

Question 1 of 3

3 questions, about 2 minutes. How would you do on the real test?

Verbal · Text Completion

The novelist's late style is admired precisely for its blank: every superfluous phrase has been pared away, leaving prose of startling economy.

Select the word that best completes the sentence.

Usage & nuance

Using “imperious” well

Imperious means arrogantly commanding, expecting obedience as a matter of course. It is easily confused with imperial, which simply pertains to an empire, and with impervious, which means impenetrable.

Common questions

Questions about “imperious”

Imperious (adjective) means arrogantly domineering or commanding
Here is imperious used in an example sentence: "With an imperious wave, the duchess dismissed the servants from the room." Another example: "With an imperious wave she dismissed the petitioners before they had finished speaking."
Common synonyms for imperious include overbearing, domineering, high-handed, dictatorial.
Antonyms of imperious include submissive, deferential.
Clusters with overbearing, domineering, and dictatorial, opposed by submissive and deferential. Beware the look-alikes imperial and impervious, which the GRE may use to mislead.
Yes. Imperious is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

See these words the way the GRE tests them.

Take the free 39-minute GRE Quick Mock Test and meet words like this inside real Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions, with a worked solution for every answer.