as in to urge
to try to persuade (someone) through earnest appeals to follow a course of action
the speaker exhorted the graduating students to go forth and try to make a difference in the world
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Recent Examples of exhort
Coaches exhorted George to keep shooting — and so did Poole.
—
Josh Robbins, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2026
The sans-serif typeface closely resembles that of the intertitles seen in Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas’s revolutionary film La hora de los hornos (Hour of the Furnaces, 1968), which exhorted the Argentinian people to revolt against the Onganía regime.
—Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
On her deathbed, Mary exhorts her son to take advantage of this situation in grotesquely self-serving terms at odds with the movie’s overall soak-the-rich ethos.
—Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 27 Feb. 2026
The first allegiance is to God alone, Tobin added, but Scriptures exhort more often to do no harm to the foreigner and welcome the stranger than to love one’s neighbor.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for exhort
Josh Robbins, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2026
The sans-serif typeface closely resembles that of the intertitles seen in Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas’s revolutionary film La hora de los hornos (Hour of the Furnaces, 1968), which exhorted the Argentinian people to revolt against the Onganía regime.
—Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
On her deathbed, Mary exhorts her son to take advantage of this situation in grotesquely self-serving terms at odds with the movie’s overall soak-the-rich ethos.
—Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 27 Feb. 2026
The first allegiance is to God alone, Tobin added, but Scriptures exhort more often to do no harm to the foreigner and welcome the stranger than to love one’s neighbor.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for exhort
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exhort
Verb
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Energage urges employers to use employee survey results, comments, and other feedback to identify gaps in learning opportunities and to improve existing programs.—
Bob Helbig,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2026
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Facing a looming deadline, Amazon is urging a federal regulator to grant an extension for its Starlink competitor, Leo, arguing that only SpaceX opposes the proposal.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Saturn in your companionable 7th house is encouraging Pluto in your playful 5th house, so the energy of these cosmic powerhouses should be a little less hard to handle and a lot more fun!—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
28 Mar. 2026
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Those who noticed the earthquake are encouraged to report it through the USGS Felt Report form.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Exhort.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exhort. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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