Word of the Day
: March 18, 2025admonish
playWhat It Means
To admonish someone is to express warning or disapproval towards them, or to urge them to do something.
// We were admonished for arriving late to the meeting.
// They were admonished to take advantage of the opportunity.
admonish in Context
"My parents admonished me and my siblings to stay away from the windows." — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2023
Did You Know?
We won't admonish you if you don't know the origins of admonish. This word, along with its archaic synonym monish, likely traces back to the Latin verb monēre, meaning "to bring to the notice of," "to remind," and "to warn." Among monēre's other English descendants are monitor, premonition, monument, and (gulp) monster. Admonishing someone (for, say, being late) hardly risks being labeled a monster, however. While a word like rebuke suggests sternness and severity, admonish usually suggests friendly, gentle, or earnest criticizing done in the spirit of counselling and instructing.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Quiz
Unscramble the letters to create a word that means "to reproach in a usually mild and constructive manner": DHIEC.
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