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Behoove vs Behest - What's the difference?

behoove | behest |

As verbs the difference between behoove and behest

is that behoove is (us) to suit; to befit while behest is (obsolete) to promise; vow.

As a noun behest is

a command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request.

behoove

English

Alternative forms

* behove (UK)

Verb

(behoov)
  • (US) To suit; to befit
  • * 2002 , Senator Douglas Roche, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Parliament of Canada:
    • I think it ill behooves the Government of Canada[...] to pretend that there are not these distinctions in how each of us approaches questions of security.
  • (US) To be necessary
  • (US) To be in one's best interest; to benefit
  • * 1803 , Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Benjamin Rush:
    • It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others.
  • * 2007 , Gary D. Schmidt, The Wednesday Wars , page 208
    • "It behooves' us to be prepared. We will begin a series of atomic bomb drills ..." / "Becomes necessary, Mr. Hupfer," said Mrs. Baker, "as in 'It ' behooves us to raise our hands before we ask a question."

    Related terms

    * behoof * behovely

    behest

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request.
  • * 1977 , , Penguin Classics, p. 278:
    • Paul did not dare pronounce, let matters rest, / His master having given him no behest .
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • to do his master's high behest
  • * 2007 , Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day :
    • And young Mr. Fleetwood Vibe was here at the behest of his father, Wall Street eminence Scarsdale Vibe, who was effectively bankrolling the Expedition.
  • * 2009 , “What a waste”, The Economist , 15 Oct 2009:
    • the House of Representatives will try to water down even this feeble effort at the behest of the unions whose members enjoy some of the most lavish policies.
  • * 2011 , Owen Gibson, The Guardian , 24 Mar 2011:
    • The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is to meet with the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, at the behest of the Premier League in a bid to resolve their long-running feud.
  • A vow; a promise.
  • * Paston
    • The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To promise; vow.

    • Anagrams

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