implore
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to beg or ask (someone) earnestly (to do something); plead with; beseech
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to ask earnestly or piteously for; supplicate; beg
to implore someone's mercy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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implorableadjective
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implorernoun
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imploratoryadjective
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implorationnoun
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unimploredadjective
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imploringlyadverb
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imploringnessnoun
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unimplorableadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has imploredperfect 3rd person singular
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have imploredperfect
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are imploringprogressive
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is imploringprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been imploringperfect progressive
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has been imploringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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imploressingular 3rd person
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am imploringprogressive 1st person singular
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imploringparticiple
Past
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had imploredperfect
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was imploringprogressive singular
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were imploringprogressive plural
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had been imploringperfect progressive
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imploredsimple
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imploredparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of implore
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin implōrāre, equivalent to im- “in” ( see im- 1) + plōrāre “to lament”
Explanation
You might ask your friend for a loan if you're short a few bucks, but if the bank is about to foreclose on your house you'll implore your friend for the money, desperately begging for the cash so you can keep your house. The word implore is often used to describe an urgent request made out of desperation. A man on death row might implore the governor to grant him a last-minute pardon. In the old days, you might have heard the word spoken by someone with lousy aim at a duel — "I implore you not to shoot me, my good man!" Today, this first-person use of the word sounds old-fashioned, although you might still hear it in a period drama.
Vocabulary lists containing implore
The Diary of Anne Frank
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List 2
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"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
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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.
Implore him to call the bank to freeze the account.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026
Go, kneel as I have knelt; Implore, beseech, and pray, Strive the besotted heart to melt, The downward course to stay; Be cast with bitter curse aside,— Thy prayers burlesqued, thy tears defied.
From Sanders' Union Fourth Reader by Sanders, Charles W.
"Implore Her Grace to have courage and to trust me as a gentleman when I promise solemnly that the knocking shall not be renewed."
From The Prophet of Berkeley Square by Hichens, Robert Smythe
Safe in His hand, whose eye discerns afar The secret ambush of a specious pray'r; Implore His aid, in His decisions rest, Secure whate'er He gives He gives the best.
From Life of Johnson, Volume 1 1709-1765 by Hill, George Birkbeck Norman
Lest in temptation’s path ye gang astray, Implore his counsel and assisting might: They never sought in vain, that sought the Lord aright!”
From Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 8 by Sylvester, Charles Herbert
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.
