I enjoyed what may or may not have been a slip in yesterday's Times. David Miliband's colleagues when he worked at Number 10, were 'sometimes shocked ... at the pre-emptory manner that he dealt with [his brother] Ed.'
Well of course they must mean peremptory - admitting no refusal, quite certain, especially (in a bad sense) intolerant of debate or contradiction; overconfident; dogmatic, precluding all doubt or hesitation as regards the action; resolute, (in a bad sense) obstinate, stubborn, wilful. Intolerant of refusal or opposition; insisting on compliance or obedience; imperious, dictatorial. Deadly, destructive.
In fact I thought there is no such word as pre-emptory. But the OED proved me wrong. It means the same as pre-emptive (which I had heard of). In military usage it means a strategy or action intended to forestall an enemy attack. So perhaps The Times made no mistake after all.
