Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 13, 2023 is: exhort \ig-ZORT\ verb

To exhort someone is to try to strongly urge them to do something.

// The volunteers exhorted the young adults to register to vote before the upcoming election.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exhort)

Examples:

“Now and again, the band pauses as the musicians praise and exhort each other. ‘More cowbell.’ ‘Let’s do it for timing, and then we’ll break it down.’ ‘I would love a violin solo right there.’ ‘It’s G minor, not B-flat?’” — Reed Johnson, The Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023

Did you know?

If you want to add a little [oomph](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oomph) to your [urge](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/urge) in speech or writing—and formal oomph at that—we exhort you to try using exhort as a synonym instead. Arriving in the 15th century from the Anglo-French word exorter, exhort traces back further to the Latin verb hortari, meaning “to incite to action, urge on, or encourage.” Latin users added the prefix ex- to hortari to intensify it; in essence, exhortari is a succinct way of saying “to really, really urge.” The Latin words adhortari (its meaning similar to that of exhortari) and dehortari (“to dissuade”) also found their way into English as [adhort](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adhort) and [dehort](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dehort), respectively, but neither of these remains in current use.