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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 As a result, the court enjoined the government from enforcing the CTA against the Plaintiffs, Samantha Smith and Robert Means, and their related entities while the lawsuit continues. Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025 Judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump codefendants' bid to further enjoin prosecutors from releasing the report. Robert Legare, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2025 There, a judge granted a preliminary injunction on July 17 enjoining against enforcement of the new limit on outside earrings. New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2025 Federal prosecutors argued there was no need to enjoin the release of Smith’s report. Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 10 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for enjoin 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enjoin
Verb
  • The hospitality industry also demands a different kind of relationship building.
    Ritu Upadhyay, WWD, 11 Feb. 2025
  • Given this history, any Israeli government of the foreseeable future would demand that a Palestinian state be demilitarized, with severe restrictions of the weapons even a police force can carry.
    Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Education institutions were instructed to review their policies; cease efforts to circumvent bans of race considerations or its proxies; and end contracts with third parties that consider race.
    April Rubin, Axios, 17 Feb. 2025
  • The House resolution raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and instructs congressional committees to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, only partially offsetting the tax cuts extension.
    Brett Rowland | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 16 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • So instead of inserting clauses that prohibited the Americans from accessing the credit, it was capped at £15M because U.S. studios do not really play in this space.
    Jake Kanter, Deadline, 11 Feb. 2025
  • President Donald Trump has called for an end to an act that prohibits American businesses from bribing foreign governments to gain business deals abroad.
    Justin Gest, Newsweek, 11 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • California has building codes that require that for new homes being built in wildfire-prone areas, but even some retrofits of existing homes can be affordable.
    Lauren Sommer, NPR, 11 Feb. 2025
  • The memo from last Friday bars people with gender dysphoria from joining the military and pauses treatment for transgender troops who require medical treatment.
    Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • On Friday a federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing the Treasury payment system while a court challenge proceeds and ordered any material downloaded from the system to be destroyed.
    Zac Anderson, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025
  • My ex is asking the judge to order me to pay more child support and to equally share in the expenses.
    Wendy Hickey, Boston Herald, 9 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • The weather was bad enough that MassDOT dropped the speed limit on the pike and forbid tandem trucks from the road.
    Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald, 17 Feb. 2025
  • The order is expected to have little national impact because COVID-19 vaccine mandates have mostly been dropped at schools and colleges across the United States, and many states have passed legislation forbidding such mandates.
    Collin Binkley, Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Now the homeowner is requesting permission from the local council, to rezone the historic property as three houses and a cottage.
    Madeline Fitzgerald, Quartz, 18 Feb. 2025
  • Police said the suspect, later identified as Onyx Calderon, showed up at the store on Jan. 29 and requested to see the rare bird, so the owner brought the parrot out in a smaller cage for his viewing purposes.
    Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • His home was reportedly raided by the FBI on Wednesday, a family member told TMZ, but said Hantz left the Bandidos gang last year.
    Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Iqra’s father, a 45-year-old farmer named Sana Ullah, told the BBC that the 13-year-old was working for the Shafiq family because Ullah was in debt.
    Angel Saunders, People.com, 19 Feb. 2025

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Thesaurus Entries Near enjoin

Cite this Entry

“Enjoin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enjoin. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.

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