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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for importuning
Verb
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First there was Norwegian’s Sturla Holm Lægreid confessing to cheating on his girlfriend during a live interview after winning the bronze medal and tearfully begging her to come back (shockingly, humiliating his ex on national television didn’t work).—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026 -
The current crop, by contrast, has been begging visitors to crawl back into the light.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Now the family is petitioning the Scottish government for a change in medical guidelines.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
29 Jan. 2026
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Three of those worked on criminal cases, and the other three were civil litigators who have been grappling with a deluge of requests by attorneys who are petitioning judges to release their immigrant clients from detention facilities.—
Sarah N. Lynch,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Importuning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/importuning. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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