importune

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To bother, irritate, trouble.

   • To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.
   • But I will no longer importune my young cousin.
2. 2

   To harass with persistent requests.

   • Gentlemen, importune me no farther, / For hovv I firmly am reſolu'd you knovv: / That is, not to beſtovv my yongeſt daughter, / Before I haue a husband for the elder: […]
   • You were kneel'd to, & importun'd otherwiſe / By all of vs; […]
   • [W]e have been obliged to hire Troops from ſeveral Princes of the Empire, whoſe Ministers and Reſidents here, have perpetually importuned the Court with unreaſonable Demands, under which our late Miniſters thought fit to be Paſſive.
3. 3

   To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.

4. ›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To import

      To import; to signify.

      • It importunes death.
   2. 5

      Grievous, severe, exacting.

      • And therewithall he fiercely at him flew, / And with importune outrage him assayld [...].
   3. 6

      Inopportune

      Inopportune; unseasonable.

   4. 7

      Troublesome

      Troublesome; vexatious; persistent.

      • And their importune fates all satisfide.
      • Of all other affections it [envy] is the most importune and continual.
   5. 8

      Synonym of importuner.

      • And yet in ſome Courts it is otherwiſe vſed, for in Spaine it is thought very vndecent for a Courtier to craue, ſuppoſing that it is the part of an importune: […]

The neighborhood

• neighborimportunity
• neighborimportunate