hortatory

[ hawr-tuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee ]

adjective

1. urging to some course of conduct or action; exhorting; encouraging:

   a hortatory speech.

hortatory

/ -trɪ; ˈhɔːtətərɪ; ˈhɔːtətɪv /

adjective

1. tending to exhort; encouraging

Derived Forms

• ˈhortatorily, adverb
• horˈtation, noun

Other Words From

• horta·tori·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of hortatory¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin hortātōrius “encouraging,” equivalent to hortā(rī) ( hortative ) + -tōrius -tory ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of hortatory¹

C16: from Late Latin hortātōrius, from Latin hortārī to exhort

Example Sentences

“Comedy Punks” is in some ways a typical hortatory rise-and-fall-and-rise promotional narrative.

From New York Times

The tendency in David’s editing process is almost always to the hortatory.

From Washington Post

His preferred medium was Twitter, where his 280-characters-at-a-time rhetoric was a study in hortatory rather than oratory.

From Seattle Times

There was something soothing about listening to two hours of Supreme Court arguments Tuesday, as the justices distinguished the “hortatory” from the merely “precatory” and traded hypotheticals about lawn-mowing, tree-planting and war bonds.

From Washington Post

“My Administration will treat this provision as hortatory but not mandatory,” his signing statement says.

From Los Angeles Times