Word.ws English Dictionary

peremptory

UK/pəˈɹɛmptəɹi/

peremptory adjective: precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal.

Adjective

peremptory (comparative more peremptory, superlative most peremptory)

  1. Precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal.
    • there is no reason but if any of the outlawries be indeed without error, but it should be a peremptory plea to the person in a writ of error, as well as in any other action.1596, Francis Bacon, Maxims of the Law, section II
  2. Of a date or deadline, absolutely requiring compliance or attendance; brooking no further delay; proceeding whether a party attends or not; final.
    • As this trial has now been postponed multiple times, there will be an adjournment to April 24, peremptory on the parties.
  3. Positive in opinion or judgment; absolutely certain, overconfident, unwilling to hear any debate or argument (especially in a pejorative sense); dogmatic.
    • He marched under a placard reading "End Bossiness Now" but decided it was a little too peremptory, not quite British, so changed the slogan on subsequent badges, to "End Bossiness Soon."2003, Andrew Marr, The Guardian, 6 Jan 03
  4. (obsolete) Firmly determined, resolute; obstinate, stubborn.
  5. Accepting no refusal or disagreement; imperious, dictatorial.
    • Upon the other hand, there are a great many people who, having no private property of their own, and being always on the brink of sheer starvation, are compelled to do the work of beasts of burden, to do work that is quite uncongenial to them, and to which they are forced by the peremptory...1891, Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism
    • […] less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book. Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 1, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN

Noun

peremptory (plural peremptories)

  1. A challenge to the admission of a juror, without the challenger needing to show good cause.
    • Each side was allowed 20 peremptories, and the prosecution used 18 of its allotment.2015 June 18, Justice Alito, Davis v. Ayala, Case No. 13-1428

peremptory meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

peremptory in Tamil

இவைகளையும் காணவும்

peremptory in Urdu

آخری, اٹل, فیصلہ کن, ناطق

peremptory in Bengali

স্পষ্ট, অনস্বীকার্য

peremptory in Malayalam

ഉടൻ നടപ്പാക്കേണ്ടതായ, ശീഘ്രകർത്തവ്യമായ, ധിക്കാരവും അക്ഷമയും നിറഞ്ഞ, ഖണ്ഡിതമായ
More languagesFewer languages
peremptory in Kannada
ಕೊನೆಯ, ತಡೆಯಲಾಗದ, ತೀರ್ಮಾನಿಸಿದ, ಅಂತಿಮ

Synonyms of peremptory

All synonyms of peremptory

Forms of peremptory

Adjective
comparativemore peremptory
superlativemost peremptory
Noun
pluralperemptories

Origin of peremptory

From Anglo-Norman peremptorie, parentorie et al. (Modern French péremptoire), and its source, Latin peremptōrius (“deadly; precluding debate, decisive”), from perimō (“destroy, thwart”), from per- (“thorough”) + emō (“to obtain, buy”).

Words formed from peremptory

Phrases with peremptory

Questions about peremptory

What does peremptory mean?
Peremptory means precluding debate or expostulation; not admitting of question or appeal.
What is peremptory in Tamil?
Peremptory in Tamil is இவைகளையும் காணவும். See Peremptory meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is peremptory?
Peremptory can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce peremptory?
Peremptory is pronounced /pəˈɹɛmptəɹi/ (UK).

Words near peremptory in the dictionary

  1. peremptions
  2. peremptorally
  3. peremptories
  4. peremptorily
  5. peremptoriness
  6. peremptory
  7. peremptory challenge
  8. peremptory challenges
  9. perempts
  10. Peremyshliany
  11. Peren

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: peremptory (page history and authors); peremptory (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); peremptory (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); peremptory (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); peremptory (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); peremptory (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “peremptory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/peremptory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.