begging 1 of 3

adjective

as in insistent

Related Words

Relevance

begging

2 of 3

noun

as in pleading

Related Words

begging

3 of 3

verb

present participle of beg
as in petitioning
to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner she begged her husband to give up extreme skiing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 begging
Adjective
Violators can be punished with fines up to $500 and three months in jail under one anti-begging law and with fines starting at up to $100 and 10 days in jail under a law against soliciting contributions from people in cars. — Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 1 Feb. 2026
Noun
But this time, his begging sounds like more than an empty come-on. — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026 Certainly plenty of people after Baudelaire have also navigated this conundrum, with (for the most part) less opium use and Freudian begging. — Literary Hub, 22 Dec. 2025 After a little begging and pleading, the parent could not say no, and the PetSmart trip turned into the family welcoming home a cat. — Liz O'Connell, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025 The world’s biggest deadbeat has passed the begging bowl again. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2025 And a reminder that without the ability to strike, collective bargaining is just collective begging. — Tim Wright, Baltimore Sun, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
Jurors heard a harrowing voicemail left by Johnson begging one of her friends for help as Williams butchered her, stabbing her five times in the chest and four times in her back. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026 Aemond, still recovering from his mother’s poison, is mopier than usual, begging Alys to be left alone. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 This flirty Damson Madder handkerchief skirt that’s begging to be styled with a ribbed tank and kitten heels. — Jordan Julian, InStyle, 7 Aug. 2026 This latest development is sure to excite fans of the franchise, who have been begging for a new X-Men movie since Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox and its library in 2019. — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2026 Holes left lying around for even the most slothful of AI are just begging for an easy AI escape. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026 Here the artists sew a conquered woman holding her child’s hand, begging for humanity. — Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026 And as many have already pointed out, audiences have been begging for more original stories, especially after the recent box office success of Obsession, Backrooms and Project Hail Mary. — Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2026 Home security video captured Rebecca begging for her life before the attack, investigators say. — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for begging
  1. insistent
  2. pleading
  3. petitioning
  4. persistent
  5. petition
  6. asking
  7. importunate
  8. soliciting
Adjective
  • So why were the Board of Peace and mediators insistent on moving forward with the plan now?
    — Mkhaimar Abusada, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026
  • James Madison was insistent that Congress was the most important and powerful branch, especially the House, which was closest to the people and, being elected every two years, would infuse new blood and new ideas into Congress in perpetuity.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 July 2026
Definition of insistent
Noun
  • Cochran said the dispute was too fact-specific to resolve at the pleading stage and allowed the case to proceed, leaving Warner free to challenge the claims later.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2026
  • There was no pathetic pleading with the audience to come closer.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of pleading
Verb
  • Oregon State’s players took the campaign a step further, petitioning state regulators for union representation and the right to bargain with their university.
    — Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Last month, California Coastkeeper Alliance and other nonprofit groups tried to expand the clean water protections statewide by petitioning six other regional water boards.
    — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
Definition of petitioning
Adjective
  • The scorching temperatures and persistent droughts in June and July mutually reinforced each other to create a hot weather spiral, according to Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
    — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The Triton is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft built to provide persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of persistent
Noun
  • The petition was launched on Canada's parliamentary petitions portal, where citizens and residents of Canada can set up petitions to parliament.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • But House Republican leader Vincent Candelora, who led the petition drive to defeat MacCormack, said fellow Republicans will continue to work against him.
    — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of petition
Verb
  • Two physicians, Howard Israel and William Seidelman, wrote to JAMA in 1996 asking a simple question about where the bodies came from.
    — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • OutKick is already basically banned from most WNBA events at this point, so don't depend on us asking them to elaborate.
    — Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of asking
Adjective
  • Dragonfly males are so importunate that some females play dead to avoid their advances.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, 22 June 2026
Definition of importunate
Noun
  • The man who was shot was possibly under the influence, according to the person who reported the soliciting.
    — Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Truist is seeking compensatory damages, an injunction against further soliciting and hiring of its employees, and attorney fees.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 29 Jan. 2026
Definition of soliciting

Browse Nearby Words

begged off
begging
begging (for)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Begging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/begging. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on begging

Nglish: Translation of begging for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All