Easily Confused Words: Impatient vs. Inpatient

Impatient and inpatient are easily confused words.


Autocorrect suggests words that start with the same letters. It suggests what word you may want to save time, but quite often, its suggestions couldn’t be more off base and produces humorous results.

Impatient is an adjective. It means someone who cannot wait for anything without getting mad, irritated, complaining, or fidgeting.

Inpatient is a noun. It means someone residing at the hospital awaiting care or a procedure.

The following story uses both words correctly:

Imogen learned that she had sleep apnea and she required a tonsillectomy. It would be an inpatient procedure so they could monitor her breathing until the swelling had gone down. She hated hospitals, and she just knew she’d be impatient with everyone involved until the whole ordeal was over.


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