admonish

verb ad·mon·ish \ ad-ˈmä-nish \

Definition of admonish

transitive verb

1 a :to indicate duties or obligations to

b :to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner

were admonished for being late

2 :to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement to

admonished them to be careful

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admonisher

noun

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admonishment

play \-mənt\ noun

See admonish defined for English-language learners

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Examples of admonish in a Sentence

"You landed in back of him," said Paul, my guide and friend. As he admonished me, the fish turned obligingly, opened its mouth, wide and white, and engulfed my fly. —Peter Kaminsky, New York Times, 17 June 2001
He is sympathetic but never condescending, or patronizing, or moralizing. His purpose is not to admonish or deplore but to understand. —C. Vann Woodward, New York Times Book Review, 5 Feb. 1989
Cops are, from the first day in the academy, admonished that juveniles must not be shot unless in dire emergency … —Joseph Wambaugh, Lines and Shadows, 1984
They were admonished to take advantage of the opportunity.
my physician is always admonishing me to eat more healthy foods

Recent Examples of admonish from the Web

Franken admonished her publicly and Pelosi’s office canceled the fundraiser.

— yashar ali, The Cut, "Off With Her Head," 27 Aug. 2017
Until Benchmark sued Mr. Kalanick, the venture firm had not publicly admonished Uber’s executive team.

— katie benner, New York Times, "For Uber, a Quiet Investor Becomes a Sudden Thorn," 17 Aug. 2017
But the report admonished Johnson's behavior after the allegations surfaced, especially for his accusation that Green was the one who harassed him.

— phillip m. bailey, The Courier-Journal, "Resign or be removed, Louisville Metro Councilman Dan Johnson has a decision to make Tuesday," 1 Aug. 2017
Bret Stephens devoted his New York Times column last week to admonishing me for my tweet of two weeks ago and critiquing my follow-up column last week explaining the tweet.

— dennis prager, National Review, "My Response to Bret Stephens," 25 July 2017
In 2012, the FDA admonished the IRB for, among other things, improperly approving a trial that should have been subject to FDA regulation, approving trials without a quorum of IRB members present, and poor record keeping.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "The curious case of ClinicalTrials.gov, where dubious stem cell therapies seem legit," 24 July 2017
Judy Hinch, of Aberdeen, stood up and admonished those who were making noise while Sheldon was talking.

— david anderson, The Aegis, "Upper Chesapeake Health chief addresses concerns about changes in Havre de Grace," 21 July 2017
Merkel admonished Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s populist prime minister, referring to the Berlin Wall.

— kati marton, Vogue, "How Angela Merkel Became the Most Powerful Woman in the World," 18 July 2017
Favorit was admonished by his boss, but neither he nor his partner, Officer Umid Rakhimov, were disciplined.

— david harris, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Orlando Police Officer Michael Favorit reassigned after 25 citizen complaints," 9 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'admonish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

When Should You Use [admonish]?

Admonish was borrowed in the 14th century (via Anglo-French) from Vulgar Latin admonestare, which is itself an alteration of the Latin verb admonēre, meaning "to warn." Admonēre, in turn, was formed by the combination of the prefix ad- and monēre, "to warn." Other descendants of monēre in English include monitor, monitory ("giving a warning"), premonition, and even a now archaic synonym of admonish, monish. Incidentally, admonish has a number of other synonyms as well, including reprove, rebuke, reprimand, reproach, and chide.

Origin and Etymology of admonish

Middle English admonesten, from Anglo-French amonester, from Vulgar Latin *admonestare, alteration of Latin admonēre to warn, from ad- + monēre to warn — more at mind

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First Known Use: 14th century

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