importunate

adjective

im·​por·​tu·​nate im-ˈpȯr-chə-nət 

-tyu̇-nət

1

: troublesomely urgent : overly persistent in request or demand

importunate creditors

2

: troublesome

importunately adverb

importunateness noun

Did you know?

Importunate has been part of the English language since the 16th century, and the synonymous importune arrived even earlier, in the 15th century. The seemingly superfluous inclusion of the suffix -ate in importunate is a bit mysterious; one theory is that English speakers modeled the adjective after words like obstinate. Importune and importunate come from Latin importunus. The prefix im- means "not," and importunus can be contrasted with Latin opportunus, which shares its meaning with and is the ancestor of our opportune, meaning "suitable or timely." The connection is obscure now, but opportunus itself harks back to the Latin phrase ob portum, meaning "[coming] to harbor." Importune, and later importunate, once meant "inopportune, untimely," but that sense is now obsolete.

Synonyms

• acute
• burning
• clamant
• compelling
• critical
• crying
• dire
• emergent
• exigent
• imperative
• imperious
• instant
• necessitous
• pressing
• urgent

Examples of importunate in a Sentence

the demands of the chairmanship were becoming too importunate for me to continue without an assistant

Word History

Etymology

importune entry 1 or importune entry 2 + -ate entry 3

Note: Compare Medieval Latin importūnātus and Middle French importuné in this sense, which are formally, though not semantically, past passive participles of the transitive verbs importūnāre and importuner.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

importunate

adjective

im·​por·​tu·​nate im-ˈpȯrch-(ə-)nət 

: making a nuisance of oneself with requests or demands

importunately adverb