beseech
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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
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beseechessimple
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have beseechedperfect
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have besoughtperfect
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has beseechedperfect
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has besoughtperfect
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am beseechingprogressive
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are beseechingprogressive
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is beseechingprogressive
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have been beseechingperfect progressive
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has been beseechingperfect progressive
Past
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beseechedsimple
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besoughtsimple
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had beseechedperfect
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had besoughtperfect
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was beseechingprogressive
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were beseechingprogressive
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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:
Its inscription "I beseech thee, holy sun of righteousness, be the way" has not been found on any other object, according to historian Helen Geake.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2023
“I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can,” said Engoron.
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
Wherefore I beseech thee, Sir Lancelot, to return again unto this realm and see my tomb, and pray some prayer more or less for my soul.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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
Modeled on Ntozake Shange’s lyrical 1976 play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf,” “Thoughts of a Colored Man” both validates and beseeches.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2021
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
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
Celtic staff beseeched them to clear off but their pleas were ignored.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026
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
The United Nations, aid groups and Israeli human rights groups have beseeched Israel to allow water and emergency deliveries of fuel to flow into the Gaza Strip.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 15, 2023
“Please put an end to this,” a viewer from Roseburg, Ore., beseeched the federal watchdog organization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
Captains of riverboats had heard about the virus by this time, and they refused to stop their boats anywhere along the length of the river in Bumba, even though people beseeched them from the banks.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
I also besought Michael Harrison for his insights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2024
Wonderly pleaded guilty, and Emerson besought “compensation under state law.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2023
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
Then, turning to him, “Oh, do let’s go back, Bernard,” she besought; “I do so hate it here.”
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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
Just a little more beseeching, a few amens, and we’d head home for cold pigeon pie and sour pickles.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
