importunity
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being importunate; persistence in solicitation.
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importunities, importunate solicitations or demands.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of importunity
1425–75; late Middle English importunite < Latin importūnitās. See importune, -ity
Explanation
Importunity is when you beg someone to do something. "Please, please take me to the mall!" is probably something said by many teens with importunity. The adjective importunate describes a plea that is so persistent or demanding that it becomes annoying. You can use the noun importunity to describe an example of this kind of pleading. You might ask for a bite of your friend's dessert with importunity, moaning about how hungry you are and how deliciously fudgy her chocolate cake looks. The root of importunity is the Latin importunitatem, which means "unsuitableness or incivility," and comes from importunus, "unfit or troublesome."
Vocabulary lists containing importunity
"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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"The Story of an Hour"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Importunity so august could not but be satisfied.
From The Virginians by Thackeray, William Makepeace
Importunity must not become a blind and uninspired clamouring for the thing we desire.
From The Threshold Grace by Ainsworth, Percy C.
He would do as much to throw off the burden of a present Importunity, as he would to relieve a want.
From Characters from 17th Century Histories and Chronicles by Various
His Wife with Tenderness renewed her Importunity, and at length said to him, My Love!
From The Spectator, Volume 2. by Addison, Joseph
By much ado I could get the Council to resent the Gaoler's behavior, and by my Importunity I had the fellow before us.
From The Book of Buried Treasure Being a True History of the Gold, Jewels, and Plate of Pirates, Galleons, etc., which are sought for to this day by Paine, Ralph Delahaye
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
