expostulation
Americannoun
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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.
Etymology
Origin of expostulation
1580–90; < Latin expostulātiōn- (stem of expostulātiō ) complaint. See expostulate, -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With an expostulation of wonder, the Dalai Lama sat back and clasped his hands together.
From Slate • Feb. 26, 2014
How do you say "a handbag"? without falling short of Dame Edith Evans's most famous expostulation?
From The Guardian • Sep. 28, 2012
Democracy, republished this week for the first time in a quarter-century, is one of the two novels Adams wrote in his lifelong expostulation with a nation that failed to give him his birthright.
From Time Magazine Archive
At first glance it seemed curious that the editors of Nature bothered to print Professor Stark's expostulation at all.
From Time Magazine Archive
The circle closed up again with a running murmur of expostulation; it was a minute before I could see anything at all.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
