enjoin
Americanverb (used with object)
-
enjoins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enjoined,
past participle, past
-
enjoining
present participle
verb
-
to order (someone) to do (something); urge strongly; command
-
to impose or prescribe (a condition, mode of behaviour, etc)
-
law to require (a person) to do or refrain from doing (some act), esp by issuing an injunction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
enjoinsimple
-
enjoinssimple
-
have enjoinedperfect
-
has enjoinedperfect
-
am enjoiningprogressive
-
are enjoiningprogressive
-
is enjoiningprogressive
-
have been enjoiningperfect progressive
-
has been enjoiningperfect progressive
Past
-
enjoinedsimple
-
had enjoinedperfect
-
was enjoiningprogressive
-
were enjoiningprogressive
-
had been enjoiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enjoin
1175–1225; Middle English enjoi ( g ) nen < Old French enjoindre < Latin injungere to fasten to, bring upon. See in- 2, join
Explanation
To enjoin is to issue an urgent and official order. If the government tells loggers to stop cutting down trees, they are enjoining the loggers to stop. Enjoin looks like it should mean bring together, and at one time, it did have that meaning. But in current usage, the only thing enjoin brings together is a command and the person on the receiving end of that order. If your doctor enjoins you to stop smoking, he is suggesting strongly that you quit.
Vocabulary lists containing enjoin
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Romeo and Juliet
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“Courts cannot enjoin implementation of Executive Orders that leave open material issues that still need to be resolved by agencies,” he wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The order would also “permanently” restrain and enjoin Musk’s trust from violating the section of the Exchange Act that was the subject of this case, according to the text of the proposed settlement.
From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026
Court of International Trade to enjoin the tariffs so businesses don’t have to pay them while litigation plays out and later seek refunds if higher courts rule them unlawful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
But Sotomayor explains that federal courts have long exercised their authority to enjoin state and federal laws, including in cases dating back to the 19th century.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2025
Some employers go further; instead of relying on the informal “money taboo” to keep workers from discussing and comparing wages, they specifically enjoin workers from doing so.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
The report enjoins Boeing, within the next six months, to “develop an action plan that includes a milestone-based approach that comprehensively addresses each recommendation.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
The order enjoins the government from further review and use of these documents for investigative purposes, not for purposes of intelligence classification and national security assessments.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2022
“A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill” enjoins us to remember.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2022
So, will you join in the battle to give every citizen the full equality which God enjoins and the law requires, whatever his belief, or race, or the color of his skin?
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
Taupin, like Ribes, enjoins a methodical examination of the throat of every patient during the prevalence of an epidemic of diphtheria, whatsoever be the disease from which the child suffers.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Confronted with the rules of fair play, the reader was enjoined to solve the case alongside the detective, which required seeing through the author’s sleights of hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
“If you’re not actually doing what the District Court found you to be doing and enjoined you from doing, then there should be no harm,” Sung said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2025
When they stop individuals with no reasonable suspicion, they act in violation of federal law, and a court in California has enjoined this practice.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2025
“Nor has the Government adequately identified which particular provisions, if any, are sufficiently independent of the enjoined definitional provision and thus might be able to remain in effect,” reads the ruling.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2024
As might be expected, Serjeant Clippinger had no interest in the case, and enjoined me to cease my prim bickering.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
District Judge Leo Sorkin ruled in their favor in Boston on Thursday, enjoining the order that had already been blocked by federal judges in Washington, New Hampshire and Maryland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2025
“This broad displacement contradicts what B.P.J. told the court a few months ago — that not one ‘single person’ would be harmed by enjoining this validly enacted state law.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
“It also irreparably harms the government by enjoining critical steps of an ongoing criminal investigation and needlessly compelling disclosure of highly sensitive records, including to” Trump’s lawyers.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
It also seeks an order permanently enjoining Thermo Fisher Scientific from using the HeLa cell line without the estate’s permission.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 4, 2021
The traveler, however, will be wise if he permits his chief men to deal with them, after enjoining them to be careful, and not commit themselves too hastily to any number or amount of gifts.
From Stanley's Adventures in the Wilds of Africa A Graphic Account of the Several Expeditions of Henry M. Stanley into the Heart of the Dark Continent by Joel Tyler Headley
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.
