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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 terms of a similar order were enjoined as unconstitutional earlier this week by a federal district court judge. Kelsey Walsh, ABC News, 15 Mar. 2025 Consequently, the court enjoined the federal government from implementing or enforcing the executive order. Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025 Though grant funding may be at risk under the order, terminating grants to organizations in the private sector is now permanently enjoined by a recent court order, according to the PowerPoint. Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2025 As of this writing, key portions have been enjoined by a federal court. Jamie Dolkas, Harvard Business Review, 27 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for enjoin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enjoin
Verb
  • Last spring, the student coalition Columbia University Apartheid Divest demanded the school divest from its financial ties to Israel and call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
    Ray Sanchez, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025
  • Judge demands more answers about deportation flights to El Salvador.
    Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 21 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • While in custody, Yusuf was recorded in jailhouse calls instructing his brother and an associate to erase data from his phone to obstruct the investigation, prosecutors said.
    Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 22 Mar. 2025
  • At one point during the convention when support seemed at low ebb, Wilson sent McCombs a note instructing him to withdraw Wilson's name from consideration, but McCombs pocketed the note without taking action.
    arkansasonline.com, arkansasonline.com, 22 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Authorities said Guzman’s criminal history includes state felony convictions in Connecticut so he is prohibited from possessing a gun.
    Staff report, Hartford Courant, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Republicans and Democrats each introduced IVF bills in the Senate last year: The Democratic bill proposed codifying access to IVF at the federal level, while the Republican bill would have denied Medicaid funds to states that prohibited IVF.
    Alexandra Chaidez, NBC News, 19 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • According to the International Cable Protection Committee, whose members represent over 98% of global submarine telecommunications cable infrastructure, cables at 4,000-meter depths are not typically armored or fortified in a way that would require such advanced cable-cutting technology.
    Jill Goldenziel, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025
  • Using technology, where fans using the app will be required to provide their contact information and the school will use it to contact them with future news and promotions from the athletic department, brings a different outlook that Coastal Carolina is hoping pays off.
    David Ubben, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • On Friday, a federal judge halted plans to fire more than 1,200 journalists, engineers and other staff who were sidelined after Trump ordered a funding cut.
    Calvin Woodward, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025
  • Each of the drug lords was sentenced to 40 years in Mexican prison, though a judge ordered Caro Quintero released in 2013 on a technicality.
    Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Specifically cited in the report was that training exercises at off-site properties must avoid any property damage and live fire training in buildings contracted by the county is forbidden.
    Charles Rabin, Miami Herald, 25 Mar. 2025
  • So the government went to the big bosses in Beijing, who decreed that, in fact, the Hong Kong government could forbid the lawyer.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • One leader in the immigrant rights community, who is based in New York City and requested to remain anonymous to speak freely about what the immigrant community is seeing, said the messaging has prompted some people in her region to self-deport.
    Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 26 Mar. 2025
  • At Tuesday’s council meeting, Fiona Mattson, program manager for the office of cannabis management, said three of these permit holders had requested another one-year extension due to several challenges.
    Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Marvel Studios‘ clever live five-hour-plus announcement of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday was their biggest livestream, bigger than any premiere red carpet, pulling in 275M digital views we’re told and 3.1M social mentions.
    Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 27 Mar. 2025
  • The federation sources also deny that any manipulation took place — telling The Athletic that the documents published by El Mundo are just some of many different drafts compiled during the process of compiling the World Cup bid book.
    Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Enjoin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enjoin. Accessed 4 Apr. 2025.

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