importunate

Definition

Persistent or pressing, often annoyingly so.

Etymology

First attested in 1477, in Middle english; from Latin importūnus + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), modelled on Middle French importuné. By surface analysis, importune + -ate. The noun was substantivized from the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Example Sentences

• "Nick was on the point of declaring again that he was a humbug, so vivid was his inner sense of what he thought of his factitious public utterances, which had the cursed property of creating dreadful responsibilities and importunate credulities for him."
• "Trembling in every limb I raise my loud im­portunate cry, And in a sacred terror wait the Delian god’s reply."

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