IMPULSION Synonyms: 69 Similar and Opposite Words

impulsion

noun

Definition of impulsion

as in impulse

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of impulsion But this remark seems more a strategic argument than a deep-rooted impulsion. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 What brought me freedom was realizing that the desire to be a help and a healer for others was more compelling to me than any morbid impulsion. — Michelle Nanouche, Christian Science Monitor, 26 Sep. 2025 That stage of young adulthood sits at a crossroads between a kind of societal awareness and youthful impulsion. — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 12 June 2025 Basically the same trick, with the take-off impulsion applied via the nose. — John Leicester, ajc, 24 July 2021 What impulsion drove you to make a film instead of writing another novel? — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for impulsion

Noun

The impulses and outcomes of police work follow a choreographic sensibility as well.

— Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
The great revelation of the exhibition is Jafa’s early work, which begins the impulse toward horror seen throughout his more recent work.

— Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of impulse

Noun

Under state law, lack of consent generally must be shown through forcible compulsion or a clear expression of nonconsent.

— Ilana Turko, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026
The real question is whether Pennsylvania and cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia want skill games and other gambling opportunities to be widespread and unavoidable for people who struggle with compulsions to gamble.

— Jonathan Caulkins, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of compulsion

Noun

Known for his exacting, couture-like approach, and an experimental zeal rare among designers at Europe’s largest luxury brands, the Frenchman got his start in fashion by filing, photocopying and cataloguing fabrics at Jean Paul Gaultier.

— Miles Socha, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2026
Legendary computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton warned AI could wipe out humanity as a mere byproduct of its zeal to accomplish a more innocent task.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of zeal

Noun

Alfonso recalled their discussions about how setting and movement could express the desire to survive.

— Lin Ying-Hsuan, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
The desire for these transformative products was never innate, and LACMA’s exhibition zeroes in on that idea from the start.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of desire

Noun

The Incredible Hulk, the Thing, He-Man, Superman—these cartoon heroes must fulfill some kind of longing.

— Gavin Francis, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026
Despite the claims of any number of charlatans who prey on the American brand of cuddly benighted ignorance, the universe will not manifest an alternate reality for anyone who simply wishes for it with sufficient longing.

— Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of longing

Noun

But resist the urge to throw every brightening ingredient at the problem.

— Glamour, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2026
In their eloquence and their ways of avoiding easy comfort, the poems also deal with the hushed experience of surviving someone else’s death and fulfill the urge to say something not only real and true but formal and exact, as though for a ceremony.

— Colm Tóibín, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of urge

Noun

There is a quiet yearning to know himself—to find for himself a more substantial backstory and sense of belonging—in what Shimoda pieces together.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
Students’ response to this approach has been full of gratitude, curiosity, respect, and a yearning for growth professionally and personally.

— David Elkowitz, STAT, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of yearning

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“Impulsion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impulsion. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of impulsion

noun

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