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If you want to add a little oomph to your urge in speech or writing—and formal oomph at that—we exhort you to try using exhort as a synonym instead. Arriving in the 15th century from the Anglo-French word exorter, exhort traces back further to the Latin verb hortari, meaning “to incite to action, urge on, or encourage.” Latin users added the prefix ex- to hortari to intensify it; in essence, exhortari is a succinct way of saying “to really, really urge.” The Latin words adhortari (its meaning similar to that of exhortari) and dehortari (“to dissuade”) also found their way into English as adhort and dehort, respectively, but neither of these remains in current use.
Examples of exhort in a Sentence
John Prisco, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
The chorus, which appears in the final movement to exhort us to cease trembling and prepare to live, proved its own inspiration.
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2025
This year’s speeches exhorted us to embrace a life-changing mission: build the communities that sustain us all.
—Ann Kowal Smith, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025
Texas is a dangerous place to be pregnant Despite the Trump administration exhorting Americans to have more babies, pregnancy can be a dangerous endeavor in the United States.
—Katia Riddle, NPR, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for exhort
Cite this Entry
“Exhort.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exhort. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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