supplicate
Americanverb (used without object)
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supplicates,
present (3rd person singular)
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supplicated,
past participle, past
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supplicating
present participle
verb
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to make a humble request to (someone); plead
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(tr) to ask for or seek humbly
Synonym Usage
See appeal.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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presupplicateverb (used with object)
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nonsupplicatingadjective
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supplicatoryadjective
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unsupplicatedadjective
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unsupplicatingadjective
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supplicatinglyadverb
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unsupplicatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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supplicatesimple
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supplicatessimple
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have supplicatedperfect
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has supplicatedperfect
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am supplicatingprogressive
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are supplicatingprogressive
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is supplicatingprogressive
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have been supplicatingperfect progressive
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has been supplicatingperfect progressive
Past
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supplicatedsimple
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had supplicatedperfect
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was supplicatingprogressive
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were supplicatingprogressive
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had been supplicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of supplicate
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin supplicātus “knelt,” past participle of supplicāre “to kneel,” from supplic-, stem of supplex “submissive, suppliant” ( see supple) + -āre, infinitive verb suffix
Explanation
If you don’t get the grade you were hoping for on your paper, you could try to rewrite it, or you could meet with your teacher and supplicate. Your humble requests for an ‘A’ may or may not work. This verb is derived from the Latin supplicare, “to kneel.” People often supplicate to God for help in the form of prayer, or supplicate to a judge for a lesser sentence. It is usually an earnest petition made to an authority figure and can be perfectly respectable or can be somewhat pitiful, like begging.
Vocabulary lists containing supplicate
Instead of "Said": Words for Asking and Offering
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"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" by Patrick Henry (1775)
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List 1
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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:
Namo Buddha, I supplicate the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the three times and ten directions to bestow Their blessings upon Your Majesties.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2023
“All the statements from Kirill are constantly, ‘Let’s do things peacefully, lets pray and supplicate.’
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2022
And if it would help to fall at her feet and supplicate myself, I would.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 28, 2019
So dire was Britain's economic predicament that it had been humiliatingly obliged to supplicate for a loan from the International Monetary Fund.
From US News ● Jul. 14, 2016
He is not to pray for prosperity, nor to supplicate that trials may be removed.
From Ancient Faiths And Modern A Dissertation upon Worships, Legends and Divinities by Thomas Inman
He was then the son who despairingly lies at the feet of his father, or the faithful servant who supplicates his prince.
From Pictures of German Life in the XVth XVIth and XVIIth Centuries, Vol. I. by Gustav Freytag
The fore part of Veneration gives respect for our fellow-men, while the back part supplicates and depends upon a Deity.
From The Illustrated Self-Instructor in Phrenology and Physiology by L. N. Fowler
Signor Fiorelli thinks he recognizes in this picture Turnus, Lavinia, and Amata, when the queen supplicates Turnus not to fight with the Trojans.
From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines
Poet.” has— “Disgrac’d by libels, worried by his foes Poor Prancer labours under endless woes; He therefore only supplicates your Grace That right or wrong you’ll keep him in his place.”
From The Commercial Restraints of Ireland by John Hely Hutchinson
Restored to authority, this flag commands, not supplicates.
From The World's Best Orations, Vol. 1 (of 10) by Various
A lama supplicated the heavenly waters by burning incense before an altar for three days.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Brain,” she supplicated faintly, “Brain, do you hear me?”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
It was in vain that Radionek's father begged, supplicated, and endeavoured to persuade the old man.
From Iermola by Jo?zef Ignacy Kraszewski
"Don't you pay no 'tention to Nancy, Mr. Lindsay," she supplicated: "Nancy, she has to work so hard, and she gits so tired and nervous: Nancy don't mean no harm!"
From The Tobacco Tiller A Tale of the Kentucky Tobacco Fields by Sarah Bell Hackley
And then the prayers which had seemed cold and lifeless on her lips when she had supplicated for George Gilbert's restoration took a new colour, and were as if inspired.
From The Doctor's Wife by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
But this year, the vibe once again seems to have shifted—this time, away from supplicating the reelected president.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
The windows do away with the plaintive or supplicating figures more common to Christian stained glass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
From noon to midnight, it is alive with the buzz of crowded restaurants, supplicating panhandlers, weaving motorcycles, and pushy vendors.
From The Verge ● Aug. 11, 2022
Her pattern of withholding attention kindled an anxious, supplicating affection in her daughter, and a lifelong taste, Sontag wrote in her diary, for “weak, unhappy, confused, charming women.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2019
He punched his hat back, concentrated, stiffened his hands, palms upward, in a supplicating gesture and began softly to chant Tantum ergo sacramentum, Veneremur cernui in as beautiful Latin as I have ever heard.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
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.
