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importune: msg#00016culture.language.word-of-the-day
**************************************************************** Bring to mind forgotten word acquaintances with Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus. http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?thes.htm&2 **************************************************************** The Word of the Day for January 17 is: importune \im-per-TOON\ verb 1 : to press or urge with troublesome persistence *2 : annoy, trouble 3 : to beg, urge, or solicit persistently or troublesomely Example sentence: "At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles." (Ralph Waldo Emerson, _Essays_) Did you know? "Importune" has many synonyms -- including "beg," "entreat," "beseech," and "implore." "Beg" suggests earnestness or insistence especially in asking for a favor ("The children begged to stay up late"). "Entreat" implies an effort to persuade or to overcome resistance ("She entreated him to change his mind"). "Beseech" implies great eagerness or anxiety ("I beseech you to have mercy"), and "implore" adds to "beseech" a suggestion of greater urgency or anguished appeal ("He implored her not to leave him"). But it is "importune" that best conveys irritating doggedness in trying to break down resistance to a request and the accompanying annoyance ("The filmmakers were importuning viewers for contributions"), as it has since Middle English speakers adopted it from Anglo-French in the 15th century. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
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