expostulation

[ ik-spos-chuh-ley-shuh n ]

/ ɪkˌspɒs tʃəˈleɪ ʃən /

the act of expostulating; remonstrance; earnest and kindly protest: In spite of my expostulations, he insisted on driving me home.

an expostulatory remark or address.

Nearby words

1580–90; < Latin expostulātiōn- (stem of expostulātiō) complaint. See expostulate, -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

There are thousands for whom a blow is a better thing than expostulation, persuasion, or any sort of kindness.
A Rough Shaking|George MacDonald
The first, a very wild and plaintive air, was the expostulation of a girl whose lover has deserted her and married another.
At Home And Abroad|Margaret Fuller Ossoli
If now and then he overheard a word of expostulation, he never interpreted it rightly.
Pembroke|Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
There is no need for your being over anxious about my expostulation.
Letters of John Calvin, Volume I (of 4)|Jules Bonnet

She was so firm and fixed in this that he did not even dare to go on with his expostulation.
John Caldigate|Anthony Trollope

1580s, from Latin expostulationem (nominative expostulatio), noun of action from past participle stem of expostulare (see expostulate).