expostulatory
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of expostulatory
First recorded in 1580–90; expostulate + -ory 1
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.
While Polly was speaking Maggie opened her eyes and mouth wider and wider and when the young lady read aloud from her tablets she could not suppress an expostulatory “oh!”
From Polly A New-Fashioned Girl by L. T. Meade
Warming with his subject, he poured out upon the gorgeously-attired Mr. Black such a flood of conciliatory and expostulatory eloquence, that that gentleman absolutely contrived to find some accommodation for them.
From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851 by Various
Mr. Oakham's tone was both shocked and expostulatory.
From The Shrieking Pit by Arthur J. (Arthur John) Rees
The "expostulatory" letter to Professor Leuba began with a series of objections to statements which he had made, and continued with the passage which follows.
From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by William James
Ida laughed good-humoredly; and the man made a little expostulatory gesture.
From The Gold Trail by Harold Bindloss
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.
