behest

noun be·hest \ bi-ˈhest , bē- \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Examples: behest in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of behest

1 : an authoritative order : command

The meeting was called at the senator's behest.

2 : an urgent prompting

At the behest of her friends, she read the poem aloud.

See behest defined for English-language learners

See behest defined for kids

behest was our Word of the Day on 01/06/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of behest in a Sentence

I only made the change at the author's behest.

Recent Examples of behest from the Web

Argentines are weary of austerity and are unlikely to thank Mr Macri for providing them with more of it, particularly at the behest of the IMF.

— The Economist, "The IMF hands Mauricio Macri a vote of confidence," 8 June 2018
The most recent incident was initially investigated by Citrus Heights Police Department at the behest of Police Chief Ronald Lawrence in September 2017, redacted police records obtained by The Bee show.

— nashelly chavez, sacbee, "Citrus Heights council looks at censuring member Bret Daniels over stalking allegations," 7 June 2018
At the behest of his new celebrity pal Kim Kardashian, the president is leaning towards pardoning Alice Marie Johnson, who is serving a life-sentence for drug possession and money laundering.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Trump is pardon-giddy. Is that a constitutional problem?," 6 June 2018
The other USA Gymnastics board leaders resigned in January, followed by the entire board at the behest of the USOC.

— rebecca davis o’brien, WSJ, "USA Gymnastics Brass Long Knew of Abuse Claims, Ex-Employee Testifies," 5 June 2018
The National Football League, at the behest of the president of the United States, has enacted rules designed to curb the expression of NFL players.

— valerie strauss, Washington Post, "Why let the Klan march at a private historically black college? ‘This is not a First Amendment thing, man.’," 31 May 2018
It was included at the behest of former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, who argued that Wall Street was recklessly gambling with house money.

— emily flitter and alan rappeport, BostonGlobe.com, "Big banks to get reprieve from Volcker Rule," 31 May 2018
It was revealed last month that a 2014 survey app created at the behest of Cambridge Analytica required Facebook login credentials and provided the survey creator access to their friends' public profile data.

— cyrus farivar, Ars Technica, "Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy amidst “siege” of negative attention," 18 May 2018
Nearly 1,000 people killed themselves in the jungles of Guyana at the behest of cult leader Jim Jones of the People’s Temple; the story sprawled across the common consciousness for months and seemed to permanently root itself in our cultural memory.

— ty burr, BostonGlobe.com, "Why do some events become historic and others fade from memory?," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'behest.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Behest first appeared in 12th century Old English as behλst, which is formed from the prefix be- and the Old English verb hātan ("to command" or "to promise"). While the word was originally used only in the sense of "promise," it acquired the additional sense of "command" among speakers of Middle English. Among contemporary English speakers, behest is no longer used in the sense of "promise" but rather denotes an authoritative or urgent request or command. Old English hātan also gave English the now-archaic words hest (meaning "command") and hight ("being called or named").

Origin and Etymology of behest

Middle English, promise, command, from Old English behǣs promise, from behātan to promise, from be- + hātan to command, promise — more at hight

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year