imperative
▶ adjective
1. of vital importance; crucial: immediate action was imperative | [with clause] it is imperative that standards are maintained.
2. giving an authoritative command; peremptory: the bell pealed again, a final imperative call.
▪ Grammar denoting the mood of a verb that expresses a command or exhortation, as in come here!
▶ noun
1. an essential or urgent thing: free movement of labour was an economic imperative.
▪ a factor or influence making something necessary: the biological imperatives which guide male and female behaviour.
2. Grammar a verb or phrase in the imperative mood.
▪ (the imperative) the imperative mood.
— DERIVATIVES
imperatival /ɪmˌpɛrəˈtʌɪv(ə)l/ adjective
imperatively adverb
imperativeness noun.
— ORIGIN
late Middle English (as a grammatical term): from late Latin imperativus (literally 'specially ordered', translating Greek prostatikē enklisis 'imperative mood'), from imperare 'to command', from in- 'towards' + parare 'make ready'.
Imperative 势在必行
imperatives當務之急