Meaning & use
impulsiveness
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Meaning
noununcountable
The tendency to act suddenly on a feeling or idea without stopping to think about the results.
Grammar: No plural: his impulsiveness, not his impulsivenesses.
Patterns
- impulsiveness in something
- the impulsiveness of someone
Her impulsiveness led her to book a flight on a whim.
Teenagers are often described as showing more impulsiveness than adults.
His impulsiveness cost him the job when he sent an angry email.
Common combinations
- youthful impulsiveness
- He blamed his mistake on youthful impulsiveness.
- show impulsiveness
- The child showed impulsiveness by running into the road.
- curb your impulsiveness
- She tried to curb her impulsiveness when shopping.
- a trait of impulsiveness
- Impulsiveness is a trait often linked with attention disorders.
- out of impulsiveness
- He quit out of impulsiveness, not because of a plan.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rashness
- Stresses carelessness about danger, while impulsiveness may simply mean spontaneity.
- spontaneity
- Is usually positive and means natural, unplanned behavior, whereas impulsiveness often carries criticism.
- recklessness
- Is stronger and implies ignoring serious risk on purpose.
- hastiness
- Focuses on moving too fast, especially in decisions, rather than on acting from a sudden urge.
Opposites
Word family
- impulsive adjective
- acting on sudden urges
- impulsively adverb
- in a sudden, unplanned way
- impulsivity noun
- a technical synonym used in psychology
- impulse noun
- a sudden urge to do something
Commonly confused: impulsiveness or impetuousness?
impulsiveness vs impetuousness
Suggests eager, forceful haste, often in passionate people; impulsiveness is the more general word for acting without thought.
Practice
His ____ meant he often bought things without checking the price.
Choose one answer.
Buying without checking shows acting on sudden urges, which is impulsiveness. Caution, patience and thrift describe the opposite habit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “impulsiveness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.