admonitory articles abound around Halloween, warning parents of the hazards of trick-or-treating
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And while the formal rules on travel have relaxed, the admonitory official language is unchanged.—John Liu, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2023 Satire has always had an admonitory function, and besides, some people are so obnoxious that a writer has to slow-walk the reader through their awfulness.—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 11 May 2022 The majority of the pieces were delivered as lectures at churches, seminaries and universities; thus, most have the distinctly instructive and at times admonitory tone of that kind of educational talk to an audience.—Kathleen Rooney, chicagotribune.com, 16 Feb. 2018 Those seeking a more sobering perspective on the toxic highs of celebrity may want to make the pilgrimage to the Boston area, the cradle of admonitory American puritanism.—Ben Brantley, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2017 Their messages were by turns romantic, topical, admonitory and devout, while the music was hypnotically danceable.—Jon Pareles, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2017
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Medieval Latin admonitōrius, from Latin admoni- (variant stem of admonēre "to admonish") + -tōrius, adjectival derivative of -tor, agent suffix
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