importune
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to press or beset with solicitations; demand with urgency or persistence.
- Synonyms:
- solicit, supplicate, implore, entreat, beseech
-
to make improper advances toward (a person).
-
to beg for (something) urgently or persistently.
- Synonyms:
- solicit, supplicate, implore, entreat, beseech
-
Obsolete. to annoy.
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Obsolete. to press; impel.
verb (used without object)
-
to make urgent or persistent solicitations.
- Synonyms:
- plead
-
to make improper advances toward another person.
adjective
verb
-
to harass with persistent requests; demand of (someone) insistently
-
to beg for persistently; request with insistence
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obsolete
-
to anger or annoy
-
to force; impel
-
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of importune
1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin importūnus unsuitable, troublesome, relentless; see im- 2, opportune
Explanation
Sure, to importune is to beg, but use it only when you're talking about going beyond mere begging into more urgent territory. The woman importuned the judge to release her innocent brother from jail. The original Latin term actually meant something closer to "to bother." Bear that in mind when you're deciding whether to use importune, because that's the kind of begging you'd want to be talking about when you do. Imagine needing something so badly that you cannot stop asking for it: then you might importune someone to get it. After a year of being importuned, dad let me have the car.
Vocabulary lists containing importune
Romeo and Juliet
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Instead of "Said": Words for Asking and Offering
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Othello
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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.
Importune me no longer, for I will not leave Vienna.
From Joseph II. and His Court by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)
Importune him once more to go, my lord; His wits begin to unsettle.
From King Lear by Shakespeare, William
Confesse your selfe freely to her: Importune her helpe to put you in your place againe.
From Othello by Shakespeare, William
Importune me no more, and let her in the midst of her calamities triumph or perish without Venus.
From Psyche by Wall, Charles Heron
Importune him once more to go my Lord, His wits begin t' vnsettle Glou.
From King Lear by Shakespeare, William
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.
