admonish

American  

[ad-mon-ish] / ædˈmɒn ɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

• admonishes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• admonished,
  past participle,  past
• admonishing
  present participle

1. 

   to caution, advise, or counsel against something.

2. to reprove or scold, especially in a mild and good-willed manner.

   The teacher admonished him about excessive noise.

   Synonyms:

   upbraid, censure, rebuke

3. to urge to a duty; remind.

   to admonish them about their obligations.

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admonish British  

/ ədˈmɒnɪʃ /

verb

1. to reprove firmly but not harshly

2. to advise to do or against doing something; warn; caution

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Synonym Usage

See warn. See reprimand.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• admonisher
  noun
• admonishment
  noun
• admonition
  noun
• preadmonish
  verb (used with object)
• admonitory
  adjective
• admonishingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• admonishing
  present
• admonished
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• admonish
  simple
• admonishes
  simple
• have admonished
  perfect
• has admonished
  perfect
• am admonishing
  progressive
• are admonishing
  progressive
• is admonishing
  progressive
• have been admonishing
  perfect progressive
• has been admonishing
  perfect progressive

Past

• admonished
  simple
• had admonished
  perfect
• was admonishing
  progressive
• were admonishing
  progressive
• had been admonishing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will admonish
  simple
• will have admonished
  perfect
• will be admonishing
  progressive
• will have been admonishing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of admonish

First recorded in 1275–1325; late Middle English admonish, amonesche, admonesse, amoness, Middle English a(d)monest (with -t later taken as past participle suffix), from Anglo-French, Old French amonester, from Vulgar Latin admonestāre (unrecorded), apparently derivative of Latin admonēre “to remind, give advice to” (source of -est- is uncertain), equivalent to ad- ad- ( def. ) + monēre “to remind, warn”; cf. monitor ( def. )

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Explanation

To admonish is to scold. If you want to show someone you're not happy with his behavior, admonish him. Coming to English through Old French from the Latin admonere, "to advise, remind," admonish is always used with an eye on improving someone's behavior. The exact meaning of this formal verb varies in intensity depending generally on who is being corrected. If a child or subordinate is being admonished, it means "scold" or "rebuke" whereas if someone admonishes a person with equal standing, warn or advise are closer synonyms.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

admonish admonishes admonished admonishing

The home-plate umpire paused the game to admonish Santana for coming set before Caballero was looking at him, a transgression that could result in an automatic ball being added to the count.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Antonelli complained again about Russell's driving on the slowing down lap and Wolff again came on the radio to admonish him: "Kimi, we talk about this privately, not on the radio."

From BBC ● May 23, 2026

"We stayed to guard our soil," her daughter Najat al-Nour, a Quran professor in her fifties who lifted her chin high to admonish those who left.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

Ratepayers routinely admonish state utility regulators for their high bills at public meetings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026

“You are docile today. Did your sister admonish you? She desires our approval very much.”

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

The only time she admonishes him about his language is to scold him for apologizing too much.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026

“NEVER attempt to remove a crab from its sea shell,” the sheet admonishes.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025

The league sometimes admits mistakes and admonishes referees.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 11, 2023

Here she admonishes women of means who struggle to breastfeed.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 2, 2023

The kindness gives way a moment when he snaps his fingers and curtly admonishes the guardias for not putting out chairs for his guests.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

There’s established law there, and trial courts have, on the whole, held, and when they haven’t, they’ve been admonished or overturned on appeal.

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026

She served as lead attorney in the E. Jean Carroll case, during which the judge admonished her repeatedly for her poor legal skills.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

A friend admonished him for the high-hat dismissal, and a chastened Mr. Lloyd fished out the script for a closer look.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

In his first news conference, Klopp admonished the media, urging them to treat him fairly and refrain from any attacks against his family.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Poppy admonished her, “They think you're destitute if you dress like that.”

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

In the video, neighbors can be heard angrily admonishing police officers for killing the dog while the woman, identified as Marie Marseille, held the animal, crying.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

Robert Mueller, who ran the FBI from 2001 to 2013, was known to adhere to Hoover’s G-man dress code of white shirts and dark suits, admonishing agents who wore something more colorful.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

"BASIL!" - the unmistakable sound of Sybil Fawlty admonishing her pompous and incompetent husband, is probably how Prunella Scales will best be remembered.

From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025

My adolescent memories ring with the sounds of Stiller admonishing his son-in-law and crying mutiny at a shopping mall pretzel shop.

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2025

I’m relieved, honestly—relieved that he’s himself and talking to me in the patient but admonishing tone people use to tell a five-year-old they’ve done something wrong.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed

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Related Words

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