as in begging
to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner
she was always importuning people for favors, even when she had no right to ask
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for importuning
Verb
-
But quite incredibly, the third and final chance went begging as Ozer saved superbly.—
Gregg Evans,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025 -
In a throwback to the warts-and-all silliness of the family’s legendary MTV reality show, The Osbournes, Coming Home appears to lean into the domestic comedy of the Osbourne clan, opening with a jittery Ozzy begging Sharon to stop driving in a herky-jerky manner.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
So local residents raised the funds instead, with the Prescott Kiwanis Club petitioning citizens to buy $1 shares of the hotel, ultimately raising a total of $150,000.—
Michael Salerno,
AZCentral.com,
24 Sep. 2025
-
The investor reaction isn’t surprising given the constant thrum of anti-vaccine misinformation since the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Kennedy’s own role through the Children’s Defense Fund back in May 2021 in petitioning the federal government to revoke authorization of COVID-19 vaccines.—
Alex Knapp,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Importuning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/importuning. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share