importune
verb /ˌɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/
/ˌɪmpɔːrˈtuːn/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they importune | /ˌɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/ /ˌɪmpɔːrˈtuːn/ |
| he / she / it importunes | /ˌɪmpɔːˈtjuːnz/ /ˌɪmpɔːrˈtuːnz/ |
| past simple importuned | /ˌɪmpɔːˈtjuːnd/ /ˌɪmpɔːrˈtuːnd/ |
| past participle importuned | /ˌɪmpɔːˈtjuːnd/ /ˌɪmpɔːrˈtuːnd/ |
| -ing form importuning | /ˌɪmpɔːˈtjuːnɪŋ/ /ˌɪmpɔːrˈtuːnɪŋ/ |
- importune somebody (for something) | importune somebody to do something to ask somebody for something many times and in a way that is annoying synonym pesterTopics Personal qualitiesc2Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French importuner or medieval Latin importunari, from Latin importunus ‘inconvenient, unseasonable’, based on Portunus, the name of the god who protected harbours (from portus ‘harbour’).