impatientim‧pa‧tient /ɪmˈpeɪʃənt/ ●○○ adjective 
We are growing impatient with the lack of results. He turned away with an impatient gesture.2[not before noun] very eager for something to happen and not wanting to waitimpatient to do something Alec strode down the street, impatient to be home.impatient for somebody to do something He was eager to talk to Shildon and impatient for him to return from lunch.—impatiently adverb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- By this time there was a queue of impatient customers waiting to be served.
- Don't be so impatient. I'm working as fast as I can.
- I could see that Max was getting impatient with me.
- Roy gets impatient when people drive too slow in front of him.
- The customs officer waved them on impatiently.
- The new minister was almost immediately the object of attack by politicians and press impatient for results.
- Carrie felt impatient with her - no grown-up should be so weak and so silly - but she was sorry as well.
- Chances are your stomach gets knotted and you feel distracted, restless, impatient.
- He felt offended that she couldn't say yes and impatient with her hesitation, blaming Katherine for his own confusion.
- He must be impatient to get back home.
- I was impatient, I wished he would move faster before a guard saw him.
- She determined not to become impatient.
- She was impatient, angry, and scientific.
- There was something deceitful and impatient about the smiling look in his eyes.
Longman Language Activatorwhen someone is waiting for something to happen
able to wait calmly without becoming annoyed or bored: · I'm sure she'll write soon. Just try to be patient.· Halle was patient, waiting for the boy to finish his explanation.
becoming annoyed because you have been waiting for a long time: · Don't be so impatient. I'm working as fast as I can.· By this time there was a queue of impatient customers waiting to be served.impatient for: · The new minister was almost immediately the object of attack by politicians and press impatient for results.get/become/grow impatient (with): · I could see that Max was getting impatient with me.
to wait happily or excitedly for something that is going to happen: · I'm really looking forward to this trip to Japan.· We used to look forward to the weekends because that was when we could spend some time together.look forward to to doing something: · I look forward to meeting you next month.
if you say you can't wait , you mean you feel excited and impatient because something good is going to happen and you want it to happen as soon as possible: · We're flying to Austria on Friday. I can't wait!can't wait for: · I can't wait for Christmas!· School is so boring. I can't wait for the holidays to come.can't wait to do something: · I can't wait to see their new house.· She couldn't wait to quit her job and get married.
to wait anxiously to see what is going to happen, especially when there is a possibility that something bad may happen: · Rachel held her breath as she waited for his answer.· The art world will be holding its breath to see how much these paintings sell for at auction.
waiting hopefully and excitedly for something to happen: · Bright expectant faces were turned upward toward the stage.· Expectant crowds waited outside the theatre.· The darkened assembly room became suddenly hushed and expectant as the picture appeared on the screen.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We are growing impatient with the lack of results.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
We are growing impatient with the lack of results.· The children grumble and fidget, getting more and more impatient.· Some were more impatient than others.· In contact with other women the separatist becomes more and more impatient with women who to them seem stubbornly bogged down in male values.· He is also becoming more impatient with his traditionally inferior status.
· Give it time, I know you, you're so impatient.· This goes some way to explaining why the Republicans are so impatient to get back into the White House.· That he satisfied so impatient and fastidious a monarch for so long says much for his efficiency and sensitivity.· When she was alive, she did not seem so impatient.· You are always so impatient, my dear boy.· I hated myself for being so impatient.· He had reached Buffalo at about five-thirty and was so impatient to see the Falls that he set off immediately after breakfast.
· He was too free with his strictures, and too impatient with restraint.· She let me prove it, but I was too impatient and proved nothing.· But, as I'd hoped, it was too impatient.· Lott, only a junior, was too impatient to wait.
NOUN· Worse still, she longed to reach up and smooth the ruffled disorder caused by his impatient gesture.· The impatient gesture of the guard who had escorted her caught Isabel's eye.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- He was fond of the man who fretted beside him, and a touch impatient with him too.
WORD FAMILYnounpatience ≠ impatiencepatientadjectivepatient ≠ impatientadverbpatiently ≠ impatiently
1annoyed because of delays, someone else’s mistakes etc OPP patientbecome/grow impatient (with somebody/something) We are growing impatient with the lack of results. He turned away with an impatient gesture.2[not before noun] very eager for something to happen and not wanting to waitimpatient to do something Alec strode down the street, impatient to be home.impatient for somebody to do something He was eager to talk to Shildon and impatient for him to return from lunch.—impatiently adverb