Meaning & use
exhort
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To urge someone strongly and earnestly to do something.
Grammar: Usually followed by to and a verb: exhort people to act.
Patterns
- exhort someone to do something
- exhort someone to something
The coach exhorted the team to give their best.
Leaders exhorted citizens to vote.
She exhorted her students to read more widely.
verbtransitiveformal
To advise or recommend something earnestly.
Grammar: Takes an object such as caution or patience.
Patterns
- exhort something
The priest exhorted patience in hard times.
The letter exhorted caution to all travelers.
The speech exhorted unity among the nations.
Word forms
| third person singular | exhorts |
|---|---|
| past tense | exhorted |
| past participle | exhorted |
| -ing form | exhorting |
Common combinations
- exhort someone to
- He exhorted them to remain calm.
- exhort the crowd
- The speaker exhorted the crowd to stay peaceful.
- exhort citizens
- The mayor exhorted citizens to save water.
- repeatedly exhort
- The teacher repeatedly exhorted the class to try harder.
- exhort in a speech
- She exhorted voters in a rousing speech.
Synonyms and how they differ
- urge
- Urge is the everyday word and carries less ceremony than exhort.
- implore
- Implore is a desperate plea, while exhort is a strong encouragement.
- encourage
- Encourage is gentler and does not suggest pressure.
- press
- Press suggests repeated insistence.
Opposites
Word family
- exhortation noun
- a strong urging speech or message
- exhortative adjective
- intended to urge
- exhortatory adjective
- serving to urge or encourage
- exhorter noun
- someone who urges others
Commonly confused: exhort or extort?
exhort vs extort
Extort means to get something by force or threats. Exhort means to urge earnestly.
Practice
The captain ___ his players to keep going until the final whistle.
Choose one answer.
Exhorted means urged strongly. Extorted is about forcing money from someone, and the others are unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “exhort”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.