Synonym Chooser

How is the word adjure distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of adjure are beg, beseech, entreat, implore, importune, and supplicate. While all these words mean "to ask urgently," adjure implies advising as well as pleading.

we were adjured to tell the truth

When can beg be used instead of adjure?

The synonyms beg and adjure are sometimes interchangeable, but beg suggests earnestness or insistence in the asking.

they begged for help

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

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 adjure?

While in some cases nearly identical to adjure, entreat implies an effort to persuade or to overcome resistance.

entreated me to join them

Where would importune be a reasonable alternative to adjure?

The words importune and adjure can be used in similar contexts, but importune suggests an annoying persistence in trying to break down resistance to a request.

importuning viewers for contributions

When would supplicate be a good substitute for adjure?

While the synonyms supplicate and adjure 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 adjure Despite the song’s topic, the music is joyful, light, as Carlito adjures Maya in Lingala, the language of Kinshasa and its environs: Listen to a voice calling you in the middle of the night. Nicolas Niarchos, The New Yorker, 26 June 2019 And Congress is adjured by the Fourteenth Amendment to enforce it against the states. WSJ, 25 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adjure
Verb
  • Peel Regional Police advised people to check with the airport regarding flight delays. Update 4/24/25 10:44 p.m.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Kross advises readers to take advantage of these resets.
    Anne Sugar, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Hippler concluded in another Friday order that jurors will be instructed on what evidence to consider in determining guilt or innocence, and that Kohberger’s demeanor during trial is not one of the aspects they’re allowed to consider.
    Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Hasn’t instructed the front office to sign one free agent.
    Doug Haller, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Russian officials have warned Ukraine's Western allies against deploying forces to the country.
    Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025
  • When autoworkers were organizing at Volkswagen and Mercedes plants in Tennessee and Alabama in June 2024, the White House warned Germany that German companies should not interfere with unionization votes in the United States.
    Jennifer M. Harris, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The percentage tells the public how much of the fire perimeter is believed to not go beyond the control lines.
    CA WILDFIRE BOT, Sacbee.com, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Trump told the brief story behind the biblical holiday centered on Jesus Christ, who, according to Christian tradition, was crucified on a cross and then rose from the dead.
    Jenny Goldsberry, The Washington Examiner, 20 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • More than a decade on, the So Kates have become such a fixture in Zendaya’s wardrobe that even her employers, Louis Vuitton and Valentino, have been taught to expect no less.
    Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 15 Apr. 2025
  • Indian women are taught by their mothers and grandmothers to massage oils into their hair from a young age.
    Sawdah Bhaimiya, CNBC, 14 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • But last week, the Trump administration ordered him to halt all the lab’s ALS research immediately as part of a more than $2.2 billion federal funding freeze.
    Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 23 Apr. 2025
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently ordered modifications to a room next to the Pentagon press briefing room to retrofit it with a makeup studio that can be used to prepare for television appearances, multiple sources told CBS News.
    Eleanor Watson, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Lexi is a kindly 350-year-old vampire who makes fast friends with Elena, counseling her about the ins and outs of dating Paul Wesley's Stefan Salvatore, another 100-plus-year-old vampire whom Lexi had been palling around with for decades.
    Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • The justices will decide whether that violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
    Ella Lee, The Hill, 9 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Alito asked Alan Schoenfeld, the county’s attorney.
    Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 22 Apr. 2025
  • In 2017, the National Institutes of Health asked Hotez to meet with Kennedy to move him off the hobbyhorse of a vaccine-autism link.
    Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Adjure.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adjure. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.

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