Behoove

//bɪˈhuːv// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To befit, be appropriate or necessary to somebody. Alternative form of behove. US, transitive

    "It ill behooves my mother to complain."

  2. 2
    be appropriate or necessary wordnet
  3. 3
    To be fitting. intransitive

    "It behooved that the Sonne of God suld descend unto us, and tak himselfe a bodie of our bodie, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones, and so become the Mediator betwixt God and man, giving power to so many as beleeve in him, to be the sonnes of God; […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
befitbecomebefitbehovebenefitwant

Example

More examples

"It would behoove you to study so you don't fail the test."

Etymology

See behove.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.