Synonym Chooser

How is the word beg distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of beg are adjure, beseech, entreat, implore, importune, and supplicate. While all these words mean "to ask urgently," beg suggests earnestness or insistence in the asking.

they begged for help

Where would adjure be a reasonable alternative to beg?

Although the words adjure and beg have much in common, adjure implies advising as well as pleading.

we were adjured to tell the truth

How are the words beseech and implore related as synonyms of beg?

Both beseech and implore imply a deeply felt anxiety.

I beseech you to have mercy
implored her not to leave him

In what contexts can entreat take the place of beg?

The synonyms entreat and beg are sometimes interchangeable, but entreat implies an effort to persuade or to overcome resistance.

entreated me to join them

When is it sensible to use importune instead of beg?

In some situations, the words importune and beg are roughly equivalent. However, importune suggests an annoying persistence in trying to break down resistance to a request.

importuning viewers for contributions

When might supplicate be a better fit than beg?

While the synonyms supplicate and beg are close in meaning, supplicate suggests a posture of humility.

with bowed heads they supplicated their Lord

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of beg This might beg the question of the benefit of interplanting if crops don’t provide their maximum yield, but comparing the nutritional yield of polyculture versus monoculture parcels of land demonstrated that interplanting yielded greater nutritional value per hectare despite the lower crop yields. JSTOR Daily, 14 Oct. 2025 This year, our five-year-old is begging to be a Ghostbuster, so our dogs are getting roped in as the Stay Puft Marshmallow man and the Slimer ghost. Trisha Easto, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025 One house that’s graced the real estate market in Arlington Heights, Illinois, is begging folks to answer that question by taking a peek at its, well, blinding interior. Tj MacIas, Kansas City Star, 13 Oct. 2025 Shampoo went out to earn money for the family, begging and selling pastries on the beach. Jack Lang, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for beg
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beg
Verb
  • No Azure for Apartheid The group has been asking Microsoft to listen to the more than 1,500 employees who petitioned the company to endorse a ceasefire.
    Jordan Novet, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
  • As Sportico has covered, the NBA petitioned the Supreme Court in March to review the case.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Murray, in turn, was asked to be a two-way player in ways that were not necessarily originally expected for the young prospect with a deft shooting touch.
    David Aldridge, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Get people to ask hard questions about everything and not to trust anything on its face.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • With further analogues in Scythian, Latvian, and Hittite, many researchers now think that the early Indo-Europeans prayed to a sky father known as something like Dyeus Puhter.
    Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Past disasters have left a painful mark for many, but they’re connected by strong community ties and have come together at vigils to honor and pray for the victims.
    Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Warner implored teammates afterward to summon a next-man-up mentality and have his back.
    Cam Inman, Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Despite Reigns imploring them to stay out of the Australian Street Fight, the iconic tag team would come into the ring to offer some support.
    Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • That didn’t mollify Pleasant View neighbors, like Nancy Pate, who attended that August meeting and beseeched the commissioners not to sign off on housing at the Glo Park site.
    John Aguilar, Denver Post, 15 Oct. 2025
  • One of its products, a stablecoin, owes its value to Binance, whose co-founder Changpeng Zhao is beseeching Trump to pardon him after a money laundering conviction.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Beg.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beg. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on beg

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!