BEHEST Synonyms: 35 Similar and Opposite Words

behest

noun

bi-ˈhest

Definition of behest

as in edict

a statement of what to do that must be obeyed by those concerned I only made the change at the author's behest

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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 behest Now, at the behest of police and firefighter unions across California, state lawmakers are pushing through legislation to unwind parts of Brown’s changes. — Daniel Borenstein, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026 Three other senior executives at the company have since died in mysterious circumstances, presumptively at the behest of the Russian government, including a former chairman who fell out of a hospital window. — Kimon De Greef, Longreads, 4 Aug. 2026 The people who joined were not there at the behest of a political organization but were drawn, like pilgrims to hip pilgrimage sites, by the promise of an insurrectionary pleasure. — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026 When Beltran was called up in September 1998, Brett reminded, the Royals were owned by a trust commissioned to keep the team in town at the behest of late Royals founder Ewing Kauffman. — Vahe Gregorian july 29, Kansas City Star, 29 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for behest

Recent Examples of Synonyms for behest

Noun

The president’s orders and edicts have no basis in reality, are nonsensical and are making our nation significantly less safe.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 Aug. 2026
Imagine if an edict came down from above tomorrow that says college athletes must be treated as full-time W-2 employees.

— Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of edict

Noun

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have uncovered a new processor attack that can bypass defenses in Intel and AMD chips by exploiting a security gap lasting only a handful of instructions.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
John’s hacking skills prove useful, as does the T-800’s extensive firepower—although per John’s instructions, there are zero human fatalities.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of instruction

Noun

If the teams refuse to enroll the players who benefit from the TRO, those players could petition Hoffman to clarify that his order also blocks the SEC from punishing schools.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 29 Aug. 2026
The draft order was picked at random, but the league’s players didn’t pick a number out of a hat or see who could hit a golf shot closest to a hole.

— Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of order

Noun

The technology was also tested against deceptive behaviour, an in a different scenario, fishing boats appeared to retreat while vessels from another direction accelerated toward the coastguard ship.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026
Despite years passing and their lives moving in different directions, the four come together and remember how beautiful and essential their friendship was and is.

— Kara Nesvig, Parents, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of direction

Noun

As they’ve mercifully been decreased from six to four to three over the last 50 years, so have the prime directives.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 25 Aug. 2026
In 2024, Western intelligence officials started gathering evidence that gangs in Scandinavia were subcontracting local teen-agers to carry out Iranian directives.

— Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of directive

Noun

Talwani, nominated to the bench by former President Obama, reluctantly removed the second injunction shortly after.

— Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
The agency initially said the rule would not apply to the midterm election unless injunctions from lower courts were lifted; those were both lifted this week.

— Caitlin Babcock, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of injunction

Browse Nearby Words

behemoths

behest

behests

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“Behest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/behest. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of behest

noun

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