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Behest is an ancient word: it is almost a thousand years old. It was formed from the prefix be- and the verb hātan ("to command" or "to promise"), and its Old English ancestor was used exclusively in the sense of "promise," a now-obsolete meaning that continued on in Middle English especially in the phrase "the land of behest." The "command" meaning of behest is also ancient but it's still in good use, typically referring to an authoritative order. Behest is now also used with a less weighty meaning; it can refer to an urgent prompting, as in "a repeat performance at the behest of the troupe's fans."
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Examples of behest in a Sentence
Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024
Earlier this year, Senate Democrats and Republicans negotiated a bipartisan border bill that was effectively killed in the House at the behest of former President Donald Trump.
—Luke Barr, ABC News, 4 June 2024
Without evidence, Trump claimed once more that the dozen jurors who voted unanimously to convict him on 34 felony charges a day earlier were working at the behest of his political opponent, President Joe Biden.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 31 May 2024
In March, Hong Kong passed its own national security law with extraordinary speed, at the behest of Beijing.
—Tiffany May, New York Times, 30 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for behest 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'behest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Behest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behest. Accessed 9 Jun. 2024.
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behest
noun
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