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implore

/ɪmˈplɔːr//ɪmˈplɔː/·verb
to beg someone earnestly to do something
Fig. 1 — I watch the dog catch sight of the biscuit and sit up on its haunches.
01Definition

To implore is to beg with feeling — to plead so earnestly that the asking shows in the whole body. It is far stronger than 'ask': people implore others to act, to forgive, or not to withhold help they badly need. The Latin root, implorare, means to call out with tears, the same family that gives us invoke, and that note of desperate appeal stays in the word. You implore when politeness is no longer enough and the request matters too much to make calmly.

02In use
  • iShe implored the committee not to withhold the funding the clinic depended on.
  • iiHe implored them to persist a little longer, certain the breakthrough was close.
  • iiiThe villagers implored the officials to act before the river rose any higher.
03Collocations
  • implore someone to
  • implore forgiveness
  • beg and implore
  • implore mercy
  • implore for help

Family imploring (adjective) · imploringly (adverb)

04Relations

=beg, plead, beseech, entreat, appeal

≠demand, command

06TOEFL & IELTS

A high-intensity verb for narrative and persuasive writing, normally followed by 'someone to do something'. It signals emotion, so use it where the stakes are real. Spelling and sound trap: keep it distinct from 'implode' (to collapse inward).

07Asked
When should you use the word 'implore'?
Where the stakes are real and 'ask' or even 'beg' would be too weak — pleading, persuasion, high emotion. For casual requests it sounds melodramatic (you would not implore someone to pass the salt). Its home is writing and speech about things that truly matter, and that intensity is the point: used well, it lends genuine weight.
What is the difference between implore and beg?
Both are urgent asking, but implore is more intense and more formal — a plea charged with deep feeling, often about something that truly matters ('she implored him to reconsider'). Beg is plainer and can be everyday or even light ('I'm begging you'). Implore rarely appears over trivial things; it is reserved for when the request carries real weight.
What is the difference between implore, beseech, and entreat?
A gradient of earnest pleading. Entreat is the gentlest — to ask earnestly and politely. Implore adds emotion and urgency, a plea that shows in the whole body. Beseech is the most intense and archaic, heavy with desperation ('I beseech you'). All three outrank 'ask'; they climb from earnest request to anguished appeal.
What does it mean to 'implore someone to do' something?
To plead with them earnestly to do it — 'they implored the government to act', 'he implored her to stay'. The standard pattern is implore + someone + to + verb. The scene above is the feeling behind it: a dog reared up, both paws reaching for the treat, its whole body bent on the one wish. Imploring is asking with everything you have.
What is the difference between implore and implode?
Only a couple of letters, and no shared meaning. Implore is to beg earnestly. Implode is to collapse violently inward, as a building or a star does. One is an emotional appeal; the other is physical destruction. Keep the o-r of implore tied to 'plead' (from Latin plorare, to cry out) and the o-d of implode to 'collapse'.
Where does the word implore come from?
From Latin implorare, 'to call out with tears' — the plor- is the same root as in 'deplore', and it means to weep or cry aloud. That origin is still audible in the word: to implore is not merely to ask but to appeal from real distress, the request pressed home with feeling rather than made calmly.