exhort

play

verb ex·hort \ig-ˈzȯrt\

Definition of exhort

transitive verb
: to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly exhorting voters to do the right thing
intransitive verb
: to give warnings or advice : make urgent appeals

exhorter

noun

See exhort defined for English-language learners

See exhort defined for kids

exhort was our Word of the Day on 03/14/2014. Hear the podcast!

Examples of exhort in a Sentence

He exhorted his people to take back their land.
She exhorted her listeners to support the proposition.

Recent Examples of exhort from the Web

One manager who recently quit a big state bank said that a campaign exhorting workers to study the party constitution had been unusually intense.

— The Economist, "Reform of China’s ailing state-owned firms is emboldening them," 20 July 2017
Even our neighborhood farmers’ market starts flooding social media with photos of radishes and local honey, exhorting us to show up.

— meaghan o'connell, The Cut, "Please Just Text Me: Against Fancy Wedding Invitations," 19 July 2017
The officials said they were also exhorted to follow the instructions of the central leadership and President Xi’s teachings.

— keith zhai, Bloomberg.com, "Downfall of Chinese Rising Star Points to Xi Power Play," 16 July 2017
At the corner pub Union Saloon, The Doobie Brothers exhort you to listen to the music, the bar man entices with $6 cocktails, and this shorts-and-sandals evening comes with the promise that the sun won’t set till 9.

— tan vinh, The Seattle Times, "Old-school appeal in Wallingford’s new Union Saloon," 12 July 2017
Two, Daniels is one of those old-school guys who exhorts the virtues of lining up and just knocking your opponent into the dirt.

— andy benoit, The MMQB, "pic.twitter.com/GWuJvRTLPY," 10 July 2017
In those statues, his arm was always raised, palm outstretched, exhorting us toward the glorious socialist future.

— alexander nazaryan, MSNBC Newsweek, "Why Russia Still Loves Josef Stalin, One of the 20th Century's Most Brutal Despots," 7 July 2017
In the celebration that rocked Oracle late into the evening, Curry swayed with his daughter in his arms, exhorting the crowd to join in.

— ailene voisin, sacbee.com, "It ain’t perfect, but it’s a wrap for the Warriors," 12 June 2017
The Kansas City film was also aimed at transit employees, exhorting them to work harder and safer.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "Take it from Tilly: Some people have always been clueless on public transportation," 24 May 2017

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

Did You Know?

Exhort is a 15th-century coinage. It derives from the Latin verb hortari, meaning "to incite," and it often implies the ardent urging or admonishing of an orator or preacher. People in the 16th century apparently liked the root -hort, but they couldn't resist fiddling around with different prefixes to create other words similar in meaning to "exhort." They came up with adhort and dehort. Adhort was short-lived and became obsolete after the 17th century. Dehort was similar to exhort and adhort but with a more specific meaning of "to dissuade." It had a better run than adhort, being used well into the late 19th century, but it is now considered archaic.

Origin and Etymology of exhort

Middle English, from Anglo-French exorter, from Latin exhortari, from ex- + hortari to incite — more at yearn

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First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

EXHORT Defined for English Language Learners

exhort

play

verb

Definition of exhort for English Language Learners

: to try to influence (someone) by words or advice : to strongly urge (someone) to do something

EXHORT Defined for Kids

exhort

play

verb ex·hort \ig-ˈzȯrt\

Definition of exhort for Students

exhorted

;

exhorting

: to try to influence by words or advice : urge strongly The Centipede was down there too, exhorting them both frantically to greater efforts … — Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach