admonitory

[ ad-mon-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee ]

adjective

1. tending or serving to admonish; warning:

   an admonitory gesture.

Other Words From

• ad·moni·tori·ly adverb
• unad·moni·tory adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of admonitory¹

From the Medieval Latin word admonitōrius, dating back to 1585–95. See ad-, monitory

Example Sentences

And while the formal rules on travel have relaxed, the admonitory official language is unchanged.

From New York Times

On the pages of her journal where Walker questions a choice after making it, writes admonitory notes to herself as "you," or searches for the right word to describe her sexuality, these sentences are not composed for their effect on readers, even if readers may eventually see this internal dialogue and the contradictions embodied by its writer.

From Salon

And if Carlo, in grief, has become an admonitory fury — Turner explicitly compares her to the Ancient Mariner in Coleridge’s poem, accosting wedding guests with her ghastly story — her legitimate beefs never completely obscure our view of the other partygoers as jumbles of kindness and monstrousness.

From New York Times

Returning suddenly to her admonitory tone, she said, dropping her voice, “If you must have a ‘vent’, Teddy, go and devote yourself to one of the ‘pretty, modest girls’ whom you do respect, and not waste your time with the silly ones.”

From Literature

The aunt with a name becomes “No Name Woman”; she becomes a story, one of the admonitory “talk-stories” that Kingston’s mother will tell years later to her California-born daughter.

From New York Times