expostulatory

[ ik-spos-chuh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee ]

/ ɪkˈspɒs tʃə ləˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

adjective

expostulating; conveying expostulation.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?

Question 1 of 10

decorum

the act of or need for making up one's mind.

dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also ex·pos·tu·la·tive

[ik-spos-chuh-ley-tiv] /ɪkˈspɒs tʃəˌleɪ tɪv/.

Origin of expostulatory

First recorded in 1580–90; expostulate + -ory¹

Words nearby expostulatory

expositor, expository, exposome, expostulate, expostulation, expostulatory, exposure, exposure dose, exposure index, exposure keratitis, exposure meter

Example sentences from the Web for expostulatory

Her letters were exposed, her expostulatory verses read at clubs and taverns, and the unhappy Sappho toasted in derision.
Coelebs In Search of a Wife|Hannah More
De Launay, if you love me, do not look at me with so expostulatory an air!
Temporal Power|Marie Corelli
With expostulatory shakes of the head and indignant glances I called his attention to the fact that I was not alone.
The Arrow of Gold|Joseph Conrad
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

The comments of the press began to assume an expostulatory tone.
James Fenimore Cooper|Thomas R. Lounsbury

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