Etymology Borrowed from Middle French impulsif, from Latin impulsivus.
1
Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent.
Poor men! poor papers! We and they / Do some impulsive force obey.1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC:
2
Actuated by impulse or by transient feelings; inclined to make rapid decisions without due consideration.
my heart, impulsive and wayward1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II):
Americans are not libertarians in the Cato Institute sense of the word, but they are folk libertarians in this sense of impulsive behaviour, which is a feature of American life that anyone who wants to govern the United States, Democratic or Republican, has to be aware of.2025 April 28, Ross Douthat, Nick Adams, “Condition of America”, in New Left Review, number 152, →ISSN:
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French impulsif, from Latin impulsivus.
1
That which impels or gives an impulse; an impelling agent.
Notwithstanding all which Motives and impulsives , Sir Thomas Overbury refused to be sent abroad , with such terms1613, Henry Wotton, letter to Edmund Bacon:
2
One whose behaviour or personality is characterized by being impulsive.