Im*pe"ri*ous (?), a. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. imp'erieux. See Imperial.]
1.
Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic.
[Obs.] "A vast and
imperious mind."
Tilloison.
Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,
Imperious.
Shak.
2.
Haughly; arrogant; overbearing; as, an imperious tyrant; an imperious manner.
This imperious man will work us all
From princes into pages.
Shak.
His bold, contemptuous, and imperious spirit soon made him conspicuous.
Macaulay.
3.
Imperative; urgent; compelling.
Imperious need, which can not be withstood.
Dryden.
Syn. -- Dictatorial; haughty; domineering; overbearing; lordly; tyrannical; despotic; arrogant; imperative; authoritative; commanding; pressing. -- Imperious, Lordly, Domineering. One who is imperious exercises his authority in a manner highly offensive for its spirit and tone; one who is lordly assumes a lofty air in order to display his importance; one who is domineering gives orders in a way to make other feel their inferiority.
© Webster 1913.