Abjure vs. Adjure

Abjure means to renounce, disavow, or strongly reject. 

Adjure means to issue a formal command or to strongly urge someone toward an action. 

These words look very similar at first, but notice that the second one begins with the prefix, ad- not ab- . While ab- means “away from,” ad- means “towards,” as in such words as advocate, advise, admire. The other part of these words, -jure, is related to the words jury and conjure. It originally meant “law” and then “oath” and thus any kind of commandment or urging, made of words.

Abjure, therefore, means to “strongly urge or command not to”:

I abjure you not to believe in conspiracy theories.

Adjure, on the other hand, means to “strongly urge or command to do something” (positively):

I adjure you to look up the facts before you believe what you read online.

With words like abjure and adjure, knowing the roots, especially the meanings of the prefixes ab- and ad- can really help. In fact, if you know ab- and ad- you can guess the correct usages of many words.

More Examples of "Abjure" Used in a Sentence

1. I abjured my allegiance to the former king in order to avoid a death sentence.
2. The people abjured their allegiance to the corrupt regime.
3. Ron had promised his mother that he would not drink, but he abjured that promise as soon as she left.
4. She abjured all of her earthly wealth and luxuries.
5. None of them could abjure their desire for a better life.
6. The king abjured the murder charges, claiming he was set up.
7. He abjured his former life and took on a new identity.
8. The president abjured the use of chemical weapons.
9. She abjured her old friends and made new ones.
10. The king abjured the crown and retired to a life of contemplation, but he was not destined to enjoy it for long because his brother overthrew him and took the crown for himself.
11. I vowed to never drink again, but I abjured my oath when I was faced with the hardest time of my life.
12. He abjured any thought of vengeance and turned his thoughts to mercy.

More Examples of "Adjure" Used in a Sentence

1. The Bible adjures readers to be careful about what they say.
2. The conjurer adjured the audience to keep silent and not laugh.
3. The preacher adjured the congregation to be faithful in their prayer life.
4. The sergeant adjured the recruit not to make any sudden movements.
5. Before adjuring the witness to tell the truth, the judge asked him to raise his right hand.
6. An adjuration was given before adjuring the witness.
7. You will adjure from speaking to those people!
8. The mayor adjured the citizens not to drink water from the contaminated river.