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expostulatory

[ik-spos-chuh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
adjective
  1. expostulating; conveying expostulation.
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Also ex·pos·tu·la·tive [ik-spos-chuh-ley-tiv] /ɪkˈspɒs tʃəˌleɪ tɪv/.

Origin of expostulatory

First recorded in 1580–90; expostulate + -ory1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for expostulatory

Historical Examples

  • De Launay, if you love me, do not look at me with so expostulatory an air!

    Temporal Power

    Marie Corelli

  • The comments of the press began to assume an expostulatory tone.

    James Fenimore Cooper

    Thomas R. Lounsbury

  • But Bill knew Barber Sam and he had presence of mind enough to couch his expostulatory reply in the most obsequious terms.

  • There I wrote to Wagner an expostulatory letter, alluding to a couple of plays with which we were both familiar, viz.

    Wagner as I Knew Him

    Ferdinand Christian Wilhelm Praeger

  • It was long, and all expostulatory why she pronounced her to be damned; and said many odd things.