imperative
Cannot be skipped
Imperative conveys urgency or necessity—something that must be done: It's imperative that we leave now.
An imperative is also a command or essential task: Reducing costs became the company's top imperative.
In grammar, the imperative mood expresses commands or requests: "Stop" and "Please sit" are imperative sentences.
The adjective describes anything commanding or absolutely necessary.
Methodical arrangement or request
- mandateFormal authoritative directive
- demandForceful request or requirement
- decreeAuthoritative legal command
- dictateGive orders imperiously
direct · enjoin · require · prescribe · charge · compel · bid · adjure
Fundamentally necessary
- indispensableUtterly required, irreplaceable
- compulsoryRequired, not optional
- mandatoryRequired by rule
- vitalEssential or sustaining existence
crucial · critical · paramount · obligatory · requisite · unavoidable · non-negotiable · inescapable
Requiring immediate attention
- urgentNeeding immediate attention
- exigentRequiring immediate attention
- compellingPowerfully engaging or persuasive
- immediateHappening without delay
time-sensitive · critical · desperate · dire · acute · burning · overriding · imminent
Required moral task
- moral obligationEthics-based required action
- KantGerman Enlightenment thinker
- deontologyMorality based on obligations
- conscienceInternal moral sense
ought · moral law · practical reason · maxim · moral necessity · normative · prescriptive · unconditional
Verb mood expressing unreality
- indicativeServing as a sign
- conjugationVerb form variation system
- second personGrammatical viewpoint using "you"
- direct addressSpeaking to someone named
syntax · inflection · exclamatory · vocative · ellipsis · bare infinitive
order
Methodical arrangement or request
- mandateFormal authoritative directive
- demandForceful request or requirement
- decreeAuthoritative legal command
dictate · direct · enjoin · require · prescribe · charge · compel · bid · adjure · exhort
essential
Fundamentally necessary
- indispensableUtterly required, irreplaceable
- compulsoryRequired, not optional
- mandatoryRequired by rule
vital · crucial · critical · paramount · obligatory · requisite · unavoidable · non-negotiable · inescapable · prerequisite
pressing
Requiring immediate attention
- urgentNeeding immediate attention
- exigentRequiring immediate attention
- compellingPowerfully engaging or persuasive
immediate · time-sensitive · critical · desperate · dire · acute · burning · overriding · imminent · emergency
duty
Required moral task
- moral obligationEthics-based required action
- KantGerman Enlightenment thinker
- deontologyMorality based on obligations
conscience · ought · moral law · practical reason · maxim · moral necessity · normative · prescriptive · unconditional
subjunctive
Verb mood expressing unreality
- indicativeServing as a sign
- conjugationVerb form variation system
- second personGrammatical viewpoint using "you"
direct address · syntax · inflection · exclamatory · vocative · ellipsis · bare infinitive
- Akkadian grammarverb conjugation, verb forms, stative, preterite, present tense
- Semitic grammarroot, stem, conjugation, inflection, verb form
- obligationmandatory, obligatory, required, compulsory, optional
- requirementsrequirement, requirements, prerequisite, requisite, requisites
- urgencyurgent, urgently, emergency, ASAP, stat
- mandatory thingsmandatory, required, obligatory, compulsory, necessary
imperativeoptional
Not mandatory
unnecessary · discretionary · elective · nonessential · voluntary
imperativesuggestion
Idea proposed for consideration
recommendation · submissive · request · plea · entreaty
- moral imperativeBinding ethical command
- biological imperativeGenetically encoded behavioral necessity
- categorical imperativeUnconditional ethical obligation