Meaning & use
impetus
Last updated
Meanings
nounsingularformal
Something that makes an action or process start or speed up.
Grammar: Has no plural in normal use; often with an or give/provide impetus.
Patterns
- impetus for something
- impetus to do something
- give impetus to something
The scandal gave new impetus to the reform movement.
Rising prices provided the impetus for change.
What was the impetus for your move?
noununcountablephysicstechnical
The force that keeps a moving object going.
Grammar: Technical use in physics, rarely plural.
The sled kept its impetus down the hill.
The ball lost impetus as it rolled.
Common combinations
- give impetus to
- The grant gave impetus to the project.
- provide the impetus
- His speech provided the impetus we needed.
- new impetus
- The campaign gained new impetus.
- impetus for change
- The crisis was the impetus for change.
- lose impetus
- The talks lost impetus.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stimulus
- Something that prompts a reaction or activity, often in science.
- momentum
- Describes growing speed of something already moving, rather than the push that starts it.
- motivation
- Personal reason to act, more about an individual.
- catalyst
- Something that triggers a change without being changed itself.
Opposites
Word family
- impetuous adjective
- acting quickly without thought
- impetuously adverb
- in a rushed way
Commonly confused: impetus or impetuous?
impetus vs impetuous
Impetuous describes a rash person; impetus is a driving force.
Practice
The new law gave fresh ___ to the recycling campaign.
Choose one answer.
Give impetus to means to boost or speed up something. Inertia and opposition would have the opposite effect, and impetuous is an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “impetus”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.