entreaty
Americannoun
-
entreaties
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
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
It was not an order, but an entreaty.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Even the entreaties of Islamic scholars and officials of Islamic countries the world over have not bent the iron will of the emir and his enforcers, especially on the most sensitive issue of education.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Comcast chairman and controlling shareholder Brian Roberts had resisted investor entreaties on a spinoff until Monday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Dozens of ministerial-level entreaties by the State Department helped deliver contributions of medical personnel from the U.K. and allies across Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
He added that the Lebanese army withdrew from its position above the village at the beginning of the war, despite entreaties by residents for it to remain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
He ran out on his mother’s entreaties, calling over his shoulder, “Ten minutes, Ma!” as he pushed open the screen door.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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.
