How to Use the imperative in a Sentence

the imperative

noun
  • Passover is about the imperative to remember, both the good and the bad.
    — Lee Cowan, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2023
  • The real-world stakes couldn’t be higher, and the imperative to act couldn’t be greater.
    — Stephen Hammer, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2024
  • Yet, not a word in your statement about the imperative for Hamas to leave Gaza.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2025
  • The first tenet is the imperative of a strong, stable Russian state.
    — Maria Snegovaya, Foreign Affairs, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The thought is the imperative, to put the thoughts in the right place, to just be present, knowing that the camera will read those things.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • So that was the imperative that the president was talking about.
    — ABC News, 28 Sep. 2025
  • The moment hangs open, framed by curiosity, and kept safe from the imperative to name and tame.
    — Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2024
  • To me, like the imperative to be the shining city upon a hill, this need for a frontier felt religious.
    — Andrew Moore, New York Times, 15 May 2025
  • The ad urged Daria—in the imperative case—to discover her true beauty.
    — Catherine Lacey, New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Suddenly, the mood shifts to the imperative, and with it, the beloved has — perhaps — appeared.
    — Bhanu Kapil Anne Boyer, New York Times, 4 May 2023
  • For research leaders, the imperative is clear.
    — Ben Elder, Forbes.com, 5 Feb. 2026
  • For Bonhomme and Anthony, the imperative was to mix codes and break the rules.
    — Rachel Davies, Architectural Digest, 12 June 2026
  • Hardest to swallow — apart from the roll — was the imperative to do nothing but calmly eat while eating calmly.
    — Caity Weaver, New York Times, 25 Jan. 2025
  • And perhaps that is why the imperative that this 2026 team faces is not just to win — but to entertain.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 19 June 2026
  • Despite the controversy, for the Hilton, that doesn't change the imperative to serve.
    — Major Garrett, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2025
  • Its demise is not collateral damage but the imperative.
    — Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Instead, the imperative of the business and political classes is to move on.
    — TIME, 26 Oct. 2023
  • Nevertheless, for many, even all the information would not be enough, and in any case, the imperative must be to protect sources and methods.
    — David V. Gioe, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
  • The Americans can’t be blamed for celebrating survival, but the imperative now is clear.
    — John Powers, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Trump said the imperative was to come up with a peace deal between the two Eastern European countries and end the nearly three-year war.
    — Filip Timotija, The Hill, 13 Feb. 2025
  • Williams frames the imperative in terms of what AstraZeneca ultimately exists to do.
    — Ken Silverstein, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
  • Trade needs to support the imperative of climate change action yet at the same time resist unhelpful protectionism.
    — Bybørge Brende, Fortune, 15 Jan. 2024
  • Perhaps the most valuable lesson from sailing is the imperative of adaptability.
    — Kathryn Preston, Fortune, 4 June 2024
  • Abbas’s central dilemma has always been how to balance the need for a peace deal with Israel with the imperative for national unity.
    — Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 30 Aug. 2024
  • Clement understands as well as anyone the shortcomings of Big Law—and the imperative of defending it.
    — Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Reimer mentioned the imperative of building change management into training.
    — John Werner, Forbes.com, 25 May 2026
  • Confirm or evolve the organization, making sure the right people are in the roles to deliver the imperative together.
    — George Bradt, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
  • With health care costs rising and cultural influences promoting sedentary lifestyles, the imperative to act has never been more urgent.
    — Liz Clark, Fortune, 7 May 2024
  • But the imperative on both sides to avoid nuclear escalation would not only create parameters for the objectives sought and the means employed to achieve them.
    — Andrew F. Krepinevich, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023
  • In other words, this financing model can balance the need to manage financial risk with the imperative to promote innovation.
    — Cristian Randieri, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the imperative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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