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.
They, anarchic Convention as they are, publish Decrees, expostulatory, explanatory, yet not without severity: they ray-forth Commissioners, singly or in pairs, the olive-branch in one hand, yet the sword in the other.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII by Various
Usually quiet and well-ordered, its customary stillness was broken by a confused, expostulatory murmur of voices, above which rose a strident, angry bellow, like that of a maddened wild beast.
From The Crevice by Will Grefé
But Bill knew Barber Sam and he had presence of mind enough to couch his expostulatory reply in the most obsequious terms.
From Second Book of Tales by Eugene Field
It was only when Gaga became expostulatory that she abandoned this pleasure and yielded to his tumultuous affection, with a listlessness and a sense of criticism which was new to her.
From Coquette by Frank Swinnerton
In all the years of their acquaintance he had never known the Commandant in an expostulatory vein.
From Harley Greenoak's Charge by Bertram Mitford
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.
