Basic Details
Word: Impatient
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Not willing to wait calmly; quickly annoyed when things take time.
Synonyms: restless, eager, irritable, edgy
Antonyms: patient, calm, tolerant
Sounds like: inpatient (a patient who stays in a hospital for treatment)
How to Spell Impatient
Syllables: im - pa - tient
Tricky part: The tient part sounds like shent, but it is spelt t-i-e-n-t. Before p, the prefix is im, not in.
Watch out for: impashent, impatiant, impaitent
Memory tip: Inside impatient is patient, and inside patient is a tie: pa-TIE-nt. Spell patient, then put im in front.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The impatient driver kept honking at the red light.
Example 2: I get impatient when the internet is slow.
Example 3: Be patient with your little brother; being impatient will only upset him.
Fun Fact
Patient, both the adjective and the hospital noun, comes from the Latin pati, to suffer or endure, because patients were people who bore their illness.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: impatient
a) content
b) restless
c) tolerant
d) gentle
Show answer
b) restless. An impatient person is restless and cannot wait calmly.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) sufficient
b) ancient
c) impashent
d) efficient
Show answer
c) impashent. The shent sound in impatient is spelt tient, just as ancient spells it cient.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
tipnaetim
a) important
b) impatience
c) impertinent
d) impatient
Show answer
d) impatient. Impatience has a c and important an o, so only impatient fits these letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these shows that someone is impatient?
a) reading calmly while the train is late
b) tapping their foot and checking the clock again and again
c) smiling as the line moves slowly
d) waiting quietly in a queue
Show answer
b) tapping their foot and checking the clock again and again
2. The feeling an impatient person has is called ____.
a) impatientness
b) impatience
c) impatiance
d) impashence
Show answer
b) impatience
