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😠 Easily annoyed ⏩ Eager to begin
impatient

impatient

11 3.4
Wanting to begin right away
  • adjective
  • /ɪmˈpeɪʃənt/
translation icon : impaciente por
  • The children are impatient to open their presents on Christmas morning.
  • become impatient

That's me again being impatient and wanting to know the ending.

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Examples

  • "Are we going to sit here all morning?" he said, impatient to get things moving.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Aren't Americans today impatient for liberals to rediscover what they stand for?

    Academic text (2008)

  • Why do you seem so impatient to be done?

    A Dozen Summers (2015)

  • Owen is now 17 years old, and he is getting impatient for change.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I'm too impatient to be a wine lover.

    A Good Year (2006)

  • I'm impatient to enter Jerusalem.

    Solomon and Sheba (1959)

  • But the cows were already at the barn door, impatient to be fed and milked.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Lucy was wrapping a curl around her index finger, impatient for him to go on.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Kenny paces, checks his watch, impatient to be done with the necessary diversion.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • We had something resembling a love affair together, and Rodion was impatient to get married after finishing Leningrad University.

    Fiction book (2002)

Synonyms

eager
vsimpatient
447 1.0

Wanting very much to do or have something and showing strong interest

is about urgent inability to wait to begin rather than general desire
anxious
vsimpatient
229 3.4

To want something to happen very much and feel impatient

is the usual clear inability to wait to begin rather than occasional eagerness
expectant
vsimpatient
9 4.1

Waiting in a hopeful, excited way for something to happen

expresses urgent inability to wait rather than calm anticipatory waiting
to champing at the bit
vsimpatient
  • Informal
3 7.9

Very eager and unable to wait to start something

is the neutral adjective form rather than an idiomatic expression
raring
vsimpatient
  • Informal
1 5.5

Very excited and ready to start

focuses more on urgent inability to wait rather than only enthusiasm

Antonyms

patient
343 1.9

Able to stay calm and not get annoyed when waiting

How Eager

impatient
11 3.4
keen
85 2.3
eager
447 1.0
interested
∞ 1.0
uninterested
20 3.5

Surface Forms

impatient positive

Morphology

impatient = patient (transparent) = im + patient

The prefix 'im-' negates the meaning of 'patient', making the transformation clear and direct.

Etymology

Impatient also uses im- 'not' and patient 'able to wait', but here it means being very eager. A helpful way to remember this is to think 'can't wait' — someone who is impatient to do something is excited and 'not able to wait' to begin.