as in to beg
to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner
I pray you: tell me where they went
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 pray
Please join Susan and me in praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time.
—
Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 July 2025
Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn’t reach them.
—Brit Morse, Fortune, 7 July 2025
Stuart has been coming to the facility each day, not to protest but to pray.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 28 June 2025
Setting out before sunrise, Zhou spent an hour scrambling to the top of a rocky peak, praying that the elusive brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus) would show.
—Skylar Knight, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pray
Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 July 2025
Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn’t reach them.
—Brit Morse, Fortune, 7 July 2025
Stuart has been coming to the facility each day, not to protest but to pray.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 28 June 2025
Setting out before sunrise, Zhou spent an hour scrambling to the top of a rocky peak, praying that the elusive brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus) would show.
—Skylar Knight, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pray
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pray
Verb
-
When all 16 of her campers and her co-counselors were safely accounted for at the pavilion, Ainslie heard campers from another cabin — one that housed some of the camp’s youngest children — begging for help.—
Toria Sheffield,
People.com,
12 July 2025
-
But when Dexter relapsed back into killing and exposed his son to the family trade, the homecoming turned sour and Dexter begged his kid to shoot him–– and Harrison obliged.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
11 July 2025
Verb
-
After the American Revolution, some widows of soldiers who wanted to petition for their late husbands’ pensions submitted samplers as evidence of their family history.—
Karin Wulf,
Smithsonian Magazine,
17 July 2025
-
As part of the post-trial proceedings in 2018 involving Geyser, Judge Michael O. Bohren issued a four-decade commitment order for treatment, though that order allowed Geyser to petition every six months for conditional release.—
Jim Riccioli,
jsonline.com,
17 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pray.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pray. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share