admonitory

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

adjective

1. tending or serving to admonish; warning.

   an admonitory gesture.

Other Word Forms

• admonitorily adverb
• unadmonitory 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

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

A piratical pastor in a boxcar and two rich, tuxedoed drunks on the same train are like admonitory bookends on the subjects of class and self-determination.

From Seattle Times

But the tone of “State Funeral” is more meditative than admonitory.

From New York Times

The traffic signals in several of his pictures glow an admonitory red or orange.

From New York Times