beseech
verb
transitive verb
R. W. Hatchintransitive verb
Synonyms
- appeal (to)
- beg
- besiege
- conjure
- entreat
- impetrate
- implore
- importune
- petition
- plead (to)
- pray
- solicit
- supplicate
Example Sentences
Erica Ariel Fox, Forbes, 15 Aug. 2022 As if losing Sarah wasn’t hard enough, every few years the Pryors were forced to oppose Whirty’s parole, launching a letter-writing campaign to beseech the Texas Parole Board to not release Whirty again. Kevin Cullen, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Aug. 2022 The standoff eventually prompted Akleh’s brother, sitting on a man’s shoulders, to beseech the crowd to let the hearse through. BostonGlobe.com, 13 May 2022 Health officials and experts continue to beseech Americans that the most effective way to avoid hospitalization is through vaccination. Travis Caldwell, CNN, 4 Jan. 2022 The texts showed Hannity pleading with Trump to beseech the rioters to prevent CNN from reaping ratings gold. Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2021 On Monday, dozens of doctors and hospital employees in Palm Beach County gathered for an early morning news conference to beseech the unvaccinated to get shots, emphasizing that the surge was overwhelming the health care system and destroying lives. New York Times, 24 Aug. 2021 Ghosts and forest spirits warn him of his doom and beseech him to turn around. Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2021 Acting Mayor Kim Janey appeared with transit advocates Monday to beseech the MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board to restore service levels on the bus and subway systems that were reduced as ridership plummeted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. BostonGlobe.com, 29 Mar. 2021 See More Word History
Middle English besechen, from be- + sechen to seek
12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
beseech
verb
beseech
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- beg
- petition
- implore
- pray
- entreat
- ask
- supplicate
- importune
- conjure
- besiege
- solicit
- require
- call on
- request
- call upon
- invoke
- appeal (to)
- plead (to)
- compel
- impetrate
- desire
- sue
- cadge
- insist
- force
- coerce
- demand
- sponge
- mooch
- bludge
- claim
- command
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- suggest
- please
- imply
- hint
- oblige
- appease
- gratify
- satisfy
- placate
- intimate
- conciliate
- pacify
- comfort
- mollify
- quiet
- content
- console
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of beseech are adjure, beg, entreat, implore, importune, and supplicate. While all these words mean "to ask urgently," beseech and implore imply a deeply felt anxiety.
While in some cases nearly identical to beseech, adjure implies advising as well as pleading.
The words beg and beseech are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, beg suggests earnestness or insistence in the asking.
The meanings of entreat and beseech largely overlap; however, entreat implies an effort to persuade or to overcome resistance.
Although the words importune and beseech have much in common, importune suggests an annoying persistence in trying to break down resistance to a request.
In some situations, the words supplicate and beseech are roughly equivalent. However, supplicate suggests a posture of humility.