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
To restore their good standing, executives must supplicate, with minimal guidance from the party-state.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 2019
The idea was started of getting Parliament to do something for him; but he was too independent to supplicate government officials in person.
From Triumphs of Invention and Discovery in Art and Science by J. Hamilton Fyfe
It supplicates the martyr to obtain by his prayers spiritual blessings, and yet addresses him as the person who is to grant those blessings.
From Primitive Christian Worship Or, The Evidence of Holy Scripture and the Church, Against the Invocation of Saints and Angels, and the Blessed Virgin Mary by James Endell Tyler
A Trojan prince, seized by Achilles in the battle, falls at his feet, and in moving terms supplicates for life.
From The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 04 The Adventurer; The Idler by Samuel Johnson
“He found it his reward, Yet supplicates thy blessing and thy prayers, The blessing, saintly Stranger, of thy prayers, Sure at the least unceasingly of mine!”
From The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark by John William Burgon
The starving parent supplicates the young and vigorous child for bread.
From The American Union Speaker by John D. (John Dudley) Philbrick
Sorrow in any shape, should meet with pity; but when it supplicates in female form, we dry its tears, nor wait to ask what caus'd them!
From The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 6, June 1810 by S. C. (Stephen Cullen) Carpenter
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
A hooded monk from the cloisters of Affaf Woira stood before the throne with a peace-offering from those who supplicated pardon, and clemency was graciously extended.
From The Highlands of Ethiopia by William Cornwallis Harris
"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
Thus we find Jeremiah supplicated Zedekiah for mercy, not to return to prison; and Paul appealed to Cæsar for justice.
From A Hind Let Loose Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ. With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods by Alexander Shields
But this year, the vibe once again seems to have shifted—this time, away from supplicating the reelected president.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
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
As I do them, moving my legs one way, my arms the other, bending and supplicating my spine, I can hear my sacral joints clicking, realigning, settling themselves, speaking to me.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 6, 2018
Fallon pretended to be a supplicating fan of Tom Hanks, who dropped a twenty on him without batting an eye.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2015
When the children had faded silently out of the kitchen, Lillian spoke to her husband in a mollifying, supplicating tone.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
