importune

[im-pawr-toon, -tyoon, im-pawr-chuhn]

verb (used with object), im·por·tuned, im·por·tun·ing.

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.

verb (used without object), im·por·tuned, im·por·tun·ing.

to make urgent or persistent solicitations.
to make improper advances toward another person.

adjective

importunate.

Origin of importune

1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin importūnus unsuitable, troublesome, relentless; see im-², opportune

Related formsim·por·tune·ly, adverbim·por·tun·er, nounun·im·por·tuned, adjective

Synonyms for importune

1, 3. beseech, entreat, implore, supplicate, solicit. 6. plead.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for importuning

beset, press, crave, persuade, plead, hound, badger, sell, nag, pray, pester, implore, solicit, appeal, urge, invoke, besiege, plague, ask, beseech

Examples from the Web for importuning

Contemporary Examples of importuning

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

Historical Examples of importuning

After you have given your final decision to my importuning, there can be no further appeal.
Flamsted quarries
Mary E. Waller
I now remember that for a year past you have been importuning me about this!
The Daughter of an Empress
Louise Muhlbach
Basil was importuning his companion on some matter which the latter could not hear.
Under the Witches' Moon
Nathan Gallizier
Instantly the importuning began, everybody crowding about her.
The Arm-Chair at the Inn
F. Hopkinson Smith
I saw I advanced nothing by importuning her, and I let the matter rest.
The History of Prostitution
William W. Sanger

British Dictionary definitions for importuning

importune

verb (tr)

to harass with persistent requests; demand of (someone) insistently
to beg for persistently; request with insistence
obsolete
1. to anger or annoy
2. to force; impel

Derived Formsimportuner, nounimportunity or importunacy, noun

Word Origin for importune

C16: from Latin importūnus tiresome, from im- in- 1 + -portūnus as in opportūnus opportune

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

Word Origin and History for importuning

importune

1520s, back-formation from importunity, or else from Middle French importuner, from Medieval Latin importunari "to make oneself troublesome," from Latin importunus "unfit, troublesome," originally "having no harbor" (i.e. "difficult to access"), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + portus "harbor" (see port (n.1)). Related: Importuned; importuning. As an adjective from early 15c.