beseech
Americanverb (used with object)
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beseeches,
present (3rd person singular)
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beseeched,
past participle, past
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besought,
past participle, past
-
beseeching
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
beseeches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
beseeched,
past participle, past
-
besought,
past participle, past
-
beseeching
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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beseechernoun
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beseechingnessnoun
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beseechingadjective
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unbeseechingadjective
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beseechinglyadverb
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unbeseechinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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beseechsimple
-
beseechessimple
-
have beseechedperfect
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have besoughtperfect
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has beseechedperfect
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has besoughtperfect
-
am beseechingprogressive
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are beseechingprogressive
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is beseechingprogressive
-
have been beseechingperfect progressive
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has been beseechingperfect progressive
Past
-
beseechedsimple
-
besoughtsimple
-
had beseechedperfect
-
had besoughtperfect
-
was beseechingprogressive
-
were beseechingprogressive
-
had been beseechingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of beseech
before 1100; Middle English bisechen, Old English besēcan. See be-, seek
Explanation
If you're begging for something but you want to sound formal and a little old-fashioned, say "I beseech you!" It really captures how urgent and desperate you are, yet perhaps saves a shred of your dignity. Beseech sounds a little like seek, which is appropriate. To beseech is to seek for something, or for permission. It is commonly used when people have an urgent request of clergy, or of a formal elder. It definitely adds dramatic undertones to whatever you're talking about. When your very life is on the line, it's your last hope, and you have nowhere else to turn, it's time to start beseeching.
Vocabulary lists containing beseech
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Instead of "Said": Words for Asking and Offering
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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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.
See Examples For:
“I beseech you to control him, if you can.”
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2023
"I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can't, I will."
From Reuters ● Nov. 6, 2023
Engoron later told Kise again, "I beseech you to control him if you can."
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2023
Grant this, we beseech thee, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our mediator and redeemer.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2022
Barrius’s eyes beseech the courtyard, seeking out anyone willing to offer him a shred of pity.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
The IRS beseeches taxpayers to avoid paper like the plague: Do not file paper returns and do not ask for a paper refund check if you want timely action.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2022
TV reporter Bruce Nolan, who beseeches God for divine intervention after he loses a job promotion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2019
He beseeches his son to do “your art stuff,” be alone, have your friends over.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2019
As in the ’33 Kong, Carl Denham beseeches his leading lady to scream, but rather than a Fay Wray shriek, Pitts offers a warrior’s cry—one that echoes Kong’s.
From Slate ● Nov. 8, 2018
If the dead can appear to the living, Lourdes beseeches God through tears, allow Victor to show himself so she can say good-bye.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
They coaxed, cajoled, begged and beseeched for support to bring the tournament to North America.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
"The year of 2024 demands your response - from everyone in the world," he beseeched delegates when he spoke from the top podium.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2024
He beseeched the U.S. government to dip into the millions of dollars Congress annually allocates to compensate victims of U.S. attacks.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2024
A woman dressed as a dugong, a rare marine mammal, beseeched passers-by to end the burning of fossil fuels.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2023
Some of the boys, with their new Yoruba names, beseeched these girls by citing Frantz Fanon.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
I also besought Michael Harrison for his insights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2024
When the Fire Department ordered him to take it down, Van Meter besought a higher civic judgment — and lo!
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2022
As a result, JWST’s development was besought by years of delays and setbacks, causing the project’s budget to grow to nearly $10 billion.
From The Verge ● Jul. 11, 2022
Determined, she took the train to Topeka and besought the state attorney general, also to no avail.
From Slate ● Sep. 7, 2021
When Cuckoo would have answered angrily to this, Wang Lung besought her and led her out, saying, “That one does not know what words mean, now.”
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
By day three the flip is gone, “and there is no beseeching the island for more. It is time instead to set about the business of surviving.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Little wonder the local community is beseeching the heavens for rain.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2025
We passed multiple radar speed signs, declaiming mph numbers, beseeching drivers to slow down.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
Business and union leaders joined in publicly and privately, beseeching him not to go down this idiotic road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2025
And when at last I opened my eyes the silence which had enfolded me had given place to a pervasive murmur, the sound from the suppliant lips and beseeching throats of the multitude.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
