| Front | adjure \uh-JOOR\ |
|---|---|
| Back | transitive verb 1. To command solemnly. 2. To request earnestly. ["Adjure" and its synonyms "entreat," "importune," and "implore" all mean "to ask earnestly." "Entreat" implies an effort to persuade or overcome resistance. "Importune" goes further, adding a sense of annoying persistence in trying to break down resistance to a request. "Implore," on the other hand, suggests a great urgency or anguished appeal on the part of the speaker. "Adjure" implies advising as well as pleading, and is sometimes accompanied by the invocation of something sacred. Be careful not to confuse "adjure" with "abjure," meaning "to renounce solemnly" or "to abstain from." Both words are rooted in Late "jurare," meaning "to swear," but "adjure" includes the prefix "ad-," meaning "to" or "toward," whereas "abjure" draws on "ab-," meaning "from" or "away."] "If you go to Las Vegas -- and so many do -- please pay mind to the signs in the park. They don't adjure you from feeding the pigeons. They forbid feeding the homeless." - Jacquelyn Mitchard; Please Do Feed the Unsightly Homeless; Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin); Oct 1, 2006. "'Use Absolut,' he adjures a waiter at the restaurant." - Amanda Vaill; A Story of Reckless Passion and Race; Chicago Tribune; May 25, 2003. |
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