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

I braced myself for the agony of hearing his voice—the voice that used to speak to me with laughter and light and now is used only to admonish or console or pity—but it wasn’t him.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Anger, John’s father admonishes him in the opening episode, is a luxury he’s not allowed.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

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

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025

Rickey’s energy is harmless yet seems mysteriously pained by unmet expectations, as when he gently admonishes Glenn: “Loosen up, you haven’t said anything funny.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025

The league sometimes admits mistakes and admonishes referees.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 11, 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

Keaton reportedly confronted the teenage fans and admonished them during the game.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

When admonished, “I must say, Mr. Burrows, you were pretty naive,” he smilingly answers, “I would say I was stupid.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

It sounded to Polly that Mr. Derby admonished his wife almost as if he were speaking to a child, but he also seemed to dote on her.

From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper

In the viral video after the shooting, neighbors can be heard angrily admonishing officers for killing the dog.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 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

And on Sunday, he was admonishing himself for it.

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025

Notably, a 2018 video of Walz admonishing Ford over a low-quality headlight harness has resurfaced to the delight of gearheads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024

The man in the front row gave them another admonishing look.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

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Related Words

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