importune
to press or beset with solicitations; demand with urgency or persistence.
to make improper advances toward (a person).
to beg for (something) urgently or persistently.
Obsolete. to annoy.
Obsolete. to press; impel.
to make urgent or persistent solicitations.
to make improper advances toward another person.
Origin of importune
1Other words for importune
Other words from importune
- im·por·tune·ly, adverb
- im·por·tun·er, noun
- un·im·por·tuned, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use importune in a sentence
The paper's CEO was importuning her to commit to "some more years" as executive editor just 12 days before she was dismissed.
The Hypocrisy Behind The New York Times’s Abrupt Decapitation of Jill Abramson | Robert Shrum | May 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNo, Sir, said the other, nothing at all except the enjoyment of your good company: and so gave over importuning him.
If you are incapable of helping yourself, at least have sense enough to refrain from importuning those who are working for you.
File No. 113 | Emile GaboriauIn most instances, as soon as it was known that we had books, our tent was surrounded by persons importuning for them.
Letters from Palestine | J. D. PaxtonA certain wealthy Jew had been importuning her for years to get a divorce in order that he might marry her.
The "Genius" | Theodore Dreiser
A well-filled purse jingled in his pocket and now and then he tossed a silver coin to some importuning Indian along the road.
Port O' Gold | Louis John Stellman
British Dictionary definitions for importune
/ (ɪmˈpɔːtjuːn) /
to harass with persistent requests; demand of (someone) insistently
to beg for persistently; request with insistence
obsolete
to anger or annoy
to force; impel
Origin of importune
1Derived forms of importune
- importuner, noun
- importunity or importunacy, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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