entreaty
Americannoun
plural
entreatiesnoun
Etymology
Origin of entreaty
Explanation
"Ain't too proud to beg" is what the word entreaty is all about. When you make an entreaty, you're begging or pleading for something. An entreaty is the kind of request you make to King Kong when he's dangling you from the top of the Empire State Building. It's an appeal you make to someone who usually has the power to grant your wish. Entreaty is often used in the plural: "After all my pleas and entreaties, my teacher still gave me a C."
Vocabulary lists containing entreaty
Pride and Prejudice
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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A Christmas Carol
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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.
Who could be falling for such an entreaty, one that requires a substantial misunderstanding of online job postings, of the internet, of contemporary employment?
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2025
Producer Patrick Spence also made an impassioned entreaty: "It's not over. We beg you... get the story out."
From BBC • May 11, 2025
The pardon entreaty might have been dismissed out of hand had it not been for its initiator — Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas, son and namesake of the slain candidate.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2024
High points include Freda Payne’s careful, tender entreaty to “shake a hand,” and Michael McDonald absolutely howling, “The fireside is blazing bright/And we’re caroling through the night.”
From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2022
Yossarian tore his eyes away from the gaze of burning entreaty Dobbs had fastened on him.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
