importunity

/,impɔ:'tju:niti/

Thân thiện

His constant importunity made it impossible to focus on my work.

Definition

Noun: 1. Insistent and persistent solicitation or entreaty: The quality or state of being overly persistent in making requests or demands, often to the point of being troublesome or burdensome. 2. An instance of being overly persistent: A specific act of pressing a request with troublesome persistence.

Usage

"Importunity" is a formal noun used to describe the act of asking or demanding something with excessive and unwelcome persistence. It implies a lack of consideration for the other person's willingness or convenience. It often carries a negative connotation of being bothersome or harassing.

Examples

• The constant importunity of the salespeople made it impossible to shop in peace.
• He finally agreed to the request, worn down by her relentless importunity.
• The charity worker was trained to ask for donations with politeness, avoiding any sense of importunity.

Advanced Usage

• "To reduce someone to importunity": To force someone into a situation where they must beg or plead persistently out of desperation.
  • The financial crisis reduced many formerly proud citizens to importunity.
• Used in formal or literary contexts to critique social or political pressure.
  • The senator denounced the importunity of the lobbying groups.

Variants and Related Words

• Importunate (adjective): Persistently demanding or insistent in a troublesome way.
  • He was an importunate beggar who followed tourists down the street.
• Importune (verb): To ask (someone) pressingly and persistently for something; to beg or solicit insistently.
  • She importuned the manager for a promotion every single week.

Synonyms

• Persistence
• Insistence
• Solicitation
• Entreaty
• Nagging (less formal)
• Pestering (less formal)

Antonyms

• Indifference
• Apathy
• Unconcern

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "The importunity of the moment": A literary phrase describing the pressing and urgent demands of a current situation.
  • Forced by the importunity of the moment, he made a quick decision.

Học thuật

Noun

1. insistent solicitation and entreaty
   • his importunity left me no alternative but to agree

Từ đồng nghĩa

• urgency
• urging