MEANING
1. To serve as evidence of or suggest a quality, condition, or intention.
2. To order, engage, or request something beforehand.
3. To address or speak to someone.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- bespeak confidence
- bespeak careful planning
On the page
The repaired cuffs bespoke care rather than poverty.
Her measured response bespoke confidence the hurried speech had concealed.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- bespeak
- Past tense
- bespoke
- Past participle
- bespoken
- Present participle
- bespeaking
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- bespeak
- Present continuous
- am/is/are bespeaking
- Present perfect
- have/has bespoken
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been bespeaking
- Past
- bespoke
- Past continuous
- was/were bespeaking
- Past perfect
- had bespoken
- Past perfect continuous
- had been bespeaking
- Future
- will bespeak
- Future continuous
- will be bespeaking
- Future perfect
- will have bespoken
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been bespeaking
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: bespeak; bespeaks; bespoke; bespoken; bespeaking Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: bespeaks.
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