Synonyms of petition

petition 1 of 2

noun

pə-ˈti-shən 

as in plea

an earnest request

a flurry of petitions from eating and drinking establishments to be exempt from the new antismoking regulations

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plea
• appeal
• prayer
• pleading
• desire
• cry
• solicitation
• application
• entreaty
• suit
• supplication
• demand
• adjuration
• suppliance
• call
• requisition
• conjuration
• insistence
• claim

petition

2 of 2

verb

as in to beg

to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner

petitioned the judge to be excused from jury duty for financial hardship

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beg
• pray
• ask
• beseech
• implore
• appeal (to)
• entreat
• plead (to)
• request
• call on
• supplicate
• importune
• conjure
• besiege
• solicit
• require
• impetrate
• invoke
• desire
• compel
• demand
• force
• claim
• insist
• coerce
• sponge
• bludge
• cadge
• mooch
• command

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• suggest
• imply
• please
• hint
• satisfy
• intimate
• appease
• oblige
• placate
• gratify
• content
• conciliate
• pacify
• comfort
• console
• quiet
• mollify

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of petition

Noun

With the throne disengaged from governance, petitions and reports from officials piled up unread, crucial state posts went unfilled, and the imperial bureaucracy splintered amid poisonous factional infighting. — Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026

In the legislative office building, Kimball again showed the petition to a staff member. — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2026

Verb

Start of a movement Tensions came to a head in late 1824, when 47 male congregants petitioned leaders at their synagogue, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, to change the liturgy. — Ashley Walters, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026

The company could still petition for a rehearing, and could also ask the Supreme Court to take the case. — Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 27 Sep. 2026