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Synonym Chooser

How does the verb enjoin contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of enjoin are bid, charge, command, direct, instruct, and order. While all these words mean "to issue orders," enjoin implies giving an order or direction authoritatively and urgently and often with admonition or solicitude.

a sign enjoining patrons to be quiet

When can bid be used instead of enjoin?

Although the words bid and enjoin have much in common, bid suggests giving orders peremptorily (as to children or servants).

she bade him be seated

How do charge and enjoin relate to one another?

Charge adds to enjoin an implication of imposing as a duty or responsibility.

charged by the President with a secret mission

How are the words command and order related as synonyms of enjoin?

Both command and order imply authority and usually some degree of formality and impersonality; command stresses official exercise of authority.

a general commanding troops

How does the word direct relate to its synonym instruct, in the sense of enjoin?

Direct and instruct both connote expectation of obedience and usually concern specific points of procedure or method, instruct sometimes implying greater explicitness or formality.

directed her assistant to hold all calls
the judge instructed the jury to ignore the remark

Where would order be a reasonable alternative to enjoin?

While the synonyms order and enjoin are close in meaning, order may suggest peremptory or arbitrary exercise.

ordered his employees about like slaves

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 enjoin The lawsuit asks the court to find the action unconstitutional under state law and enjoin the town from enforcing the tax. Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025 The judge is effectively short-circuiting Trump's ability to appeal to higher courts to enjoin an official conviction. Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025 On December 23, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, was (again) enjoined from enforcing the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2024 In a late December ruling, the government has (again) been enjoined from enforcing the BOI reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for enjoin 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enjoin
Verb
  • Connectivity is an area in which this HP model doesn't demand any sacrifices.
    David English, PCMAG, 20 Jan. 2025
  • By the nineteenth century, some had grown wary of the intense forms of concentration that industrial life demanded.
    Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • One of Huffman's orders instructed officials to start the process of phasing out Biden administration policies that allowed certain migrants to enter the U.S. through an immigration authority known as parole.
    Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, 24 Jan. 2025
  • The president also instructed federal officials to investigate local authorities that interfere with the new anti-immigration measures, according to a Justice Department memo sent Tuesday and obtained by NBC News.
    Sara Dorn, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • By Alison Durkee In April, President Joe Biden signed a law that prohibits U.S. app stores from hosting TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, relinquishes ownership.
    Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 19 Jan. 2025
  • Under the law, mobile app stores are barred from offering TikTok and internet hosting services are prohibited from delivering the service to American users.
    Haleluya Hadero, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Cheshire’s project specifications required that the work be done under dry conditions along with environmental controls to prevent uncured geopolymer mortar from leaking into Cuff Brook.
    Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 Jan. 2025
  • While the most recent survey results are easily available on the NCES website, the rest are in formats that require experts to clean and organize into something usable.
    Jennifer Berry Hawes, ProPublica, 18 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Roll up in your six-seat golf cart, light up a stogie with the crew and order a filet mignon.
    Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 29 Jan. 2025
  • He was given probation and ordered to attend 52 weeks of a domestic violence intervention program.
    Jessica Wang, EW.com, 29 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Especially since active duty troops are forbidden from doing law enforcement under the Posse Comitatus Act.
    Raul A. Reyes, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
  • The executive order does not mention key Trump campaign promises like banning gender-affirming care for minors or forbidding trans youth from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender.
    Abby Monteil, Them, 21 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Many visitors will seek out her section near the T-Mobile entrance gate by Lot M, and co-workers have requested to work directly with her.
    Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 25 Jan. 2025
  • Pre-positioning resources are also requested for mud and debris flow concerns.
    Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register, 24 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Finley was named after Samuel Finley Brown Morse, the founder of Pebble Beach, Nantz told Golf Digest in 2019.
    Adam England, People.com, 26 Jan. 2025
  • The dealership employee told police that Pan had asked to borrow the car for a test drive and had never returned.
    Emma Steele, CBS News, 26 Jan. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Enjoin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enjoin. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

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