Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To make an earnest request of (someone), especially insistently or repeatedly.
- intransitive verb To ask for (something) urgently or repeatedly.
- intransitive verb To annoy; vex.
- intransitive verb To plead or urge irksomely, often persistently.
- adjective Importunate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Unseasonable; inopportune; untimely.
- Importunate.
- noun An importunate person; one offensively persistent.
- To press or harass with solicitation; ply or beset with unremitting petitions or demands; crave or require persistently.
- To crave or require persistently; beg for urgently.
- To annoy; irritate; molest.
- [A false use, by confusion with import.] To import; signify; mean.
- Synonyms Request, Beg, Tease (see
ask ); appeal to, plead with, beset, urge, plague, worry, press, dun. - To make requests or demands urgently and persistently.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To require; to demand.
- adjective obsolete Inopportune; unseasonable.
- adjective obsolete Troublesome; vexatious; persistent; urgent; hence, vexatious on account of untimely urgency or pertinacious solicitation.
- transitive verb To request or solicit, with urgency; to press with frequent, unreasonable, or troublesome application or pertinacity; hence, to tease; to irritate; to worry.
- transitive verb obsolete To import; to signify.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
bother ,trouble ,irritate . - verb To
harass with persistent requests. - verb To approach to offer one's services as a
prostitute , or otherwise make improper proposals. - adjective obsolete
Grievous ,severe ,exacting . - adjective obsolete
inopportune ;unseasonable - adjective obsolete
troublesome ;vexatious ;persistent
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb beg persistently and urgently
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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WORDS ACCENTED ON THE LAST SYLLABLE: address _address'_ adept _adept'_ adult _adult'_ ally _ally'_ commandant _commandänt '(ä as in arm) _ contour _contour'_ dessert _dessert'_ dilate _dilate'_ excise _eksiz'_ finance _finance'_ grimace _grimace'_ importune _importune'_ occult _occult'_ pretence _pretence'_ research _research'_ robust _robust'_ romance _romance'_ tirade _tirade'_
Practical Grammar and Composition Thomas Wood
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They simply want to scream racism and blather about the civil rights of non-citizens and see the law as an opportunity to importune for their point of view.
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If it is “rude” and “insensitive” to importune people at the entrances and exits of buildings they really need to get into/out of, I have a serious beef with the local Girl Scouts.
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If it is “rude” and “insensitive” to importune people at the entrances and exits of buildings they really need to get into/out of, I have a serious beef with the local Girl Scouts.
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Usually, it is the girls who voluntarily provide service and even actively importune the customers.
Global Voices in English » China: Underage prostitution ring sparks public indignation 2009
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Michelle Dulak Thomson: If it is “rude” and “insensitive” to importune people at the entrances and exits of buildings they really need to get into/out of, I have a serious beef with the local Girl Scouts.
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Now I need to send these out to people I mean to importune for blurbs ...
I hate you. Where's my snowpocalypse? kylecassidy 2010
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Around the time ofLast Tango'srelease, waitstaff in restaurants began to importune customers by announcing their first names — the waitstaff's, that is, not the patrons.
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Someone must hold our table while I importune the insensitive clods who look over the shoulders of their chattering wives to see the scores of silly Boston "Bruins" and "Celtics".
Quixote Bronson, Savior of Neglected Suburban Housewives 2010
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Rachel has written to Harriet but it will take so long before she can receive information from there that I must importune you again my love to --- our anxiety and in doing so I feel reluctance because I know your heart is so tenderly interested that it must experience pain from the idea of the --- danger.
Letter from Rebecca Gratz to Maria Fenno Hoffman Jewish Women's Archive 2010
bilby commented on the word importune
Some great inquisitors in nature say,
Royal and generous forms sweetly display
Much of the heavenly virtue, as proceeding
From a pure essence and elected breeding:
Howe'er, truth for him thus nuch doth importune,
His form and value both deserv'd his fortune;
For 'tis a question not decided yet,
Whether his mind or fortune were more great.
- John Webster, 'A Monumental Column', 1613.
August 2, 2009
Silpa commented on the word importune
After weeks of importuning the star to meet for a five-minute interview, the journalist finally got what she wanted.
October 29, 2017