Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various plants of the genus Impatiens, especially several species that are widely cultivated for their colorful flowers and attractive foliage.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of various ornamental plants of the genus Impatiens

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin impatiēns, impatient (so called because the ripe pods burst open when touched); see impatient.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin

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Examples

  • Annuals, such as impatiens, coleus and begonias that are still growing strong can be encouraged to continue blooming with regular watering and feeding.

    Local News from Tuscaloosa News 2010

  • The notion that "impatiens" are short on those qualities comes from the tendency of their ripe seed pods to split open and throw seeds in all directions when touched.

    Rockford Register Star Home RSS 2010

  • She forgets herself being there, forgets the back deck, the neat neighborhood yards, the window boxes of carnations, the gardens of blue morning glories, the beds of red impatiens.

    Claudia Ricci: It's Catching -- Seeing Red Sparks Another On-Line Serialized Novel! Claudia Ricci 2011

  • I had forgotten about his magical place where the sun shines every day, the grass is still green, where rhododendrons, impatiens, and geraniums blossom in gleeful profusion.

    Renewed 2009

  • She forgets herself being there, forgets the back deck, the neat neighborhood yards, the window boxes of carnations, the gardens of blue morning glories, the beds of red impatiens.

    Claudia Ricci: It's Catching -- Seeing Red Sparks Another On-Line Serialized Novel! Claudia Ricci 2011

  • I hope to take lots of walks, to fill out my flower garden with pink and white impatiens, to finish reading Prayers for Sale.

    Allright Then… 2009

  • Well, I saw a bird lying on the table beside the impatiens.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011

  • I had forgotten about his magical place where the sun shines every day, the grass is still green, where rhododendrons, impatiens, and geraniums blossom in gleeful profusion.

    2009 January « Becca’s Byline 2009

  • The deck resplendent with blue and purple pansies, impatiens, forced tulips, flame saffron and pixie euonymus cuttings from her mother's greenhouse.

    Arasoi Chuugi Axey Moskevyu 2011

  • I hope to take lots of walks, to fill out my flower garden with pink and white impatiens, to finish reading Prayers for Sale.

    2009 June « Becca’s Byline 2009

Comments

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  • (n): any of a widely distributed genus (Impatiens of the family Balsaminaceae) of annual or perennial herbs with irregular spurred or saccate flowers and forcefully dehiscent capsules

    January 24, 2008