admonish
verb
ad·mon·ish
| \ ad-ˈmä-nish
\
\
admonished;
admonishing;
admonishes
Definition of admonish
1a
: 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 … users are admonished to change passwords regularly …— Mark Pothier
3
: to say (something) as advice or a warning
The sign admonished, "Watch your step." "Please be silent while I tell my story," LaPautre admonished.— Louise Erdrich
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Other Words from admonish
admonisher
noun,
plural admonishers
admonishment
\ -mənt
\
noun,
plural admonishments
\
noun,
plural admonishments
Synonyms for admonish
Synonyms
chide, rebuke, reprimand, reproach, reprove, tick off
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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
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Recent Examples on the Web
If requests are denied and staff still choose not to work overtime, they are admonished by managers and miss out on future overtime opportunities. — Mark Gurman, Fortune, "Apple Admits Breaking Chinese Labor Laws in the World’s Largest iPhone Factory," 9 Sep. 2019 In 2009, the state said, he was admonished again for similar behavior and suspended. — oregonlive.com, "Former St. Helens teacher sentenced to prison for sex abuse of teen girl," 19 Aug. 2019 Much of our currency admonishes E pluribus unum — out of many, one. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Your Say: Election 2020 priorities," 2 Aug. 2019 Among the many tweets on the topic are some that contain graphic images of the June protest, and others admonishing anyone who would still support Liu or buy a ticket to Mulan after seeing them. — Allegra Frank, Vox, "How the Hong Kong protests created the #BoycottMulan campaign," 16 Aug. 2019 Günther chose to admonish the President about the necessity to respect property rights. — Quartz Africa, "Even after acknowledging the Namibia genocide of WWI, Germany still hasn’t learned the key lesson," 10 Aug. 2019 The practice dates back over 3,500 years to Jacob, who orally delivered the first one to his sons, according to the Old Testament, admonishing their bad behavior and giving tips on how to do better. — Bj Miller, Time, "Why You Need to Make a 'When I Die' File—Before It's Too Late," 1 Aug. 2019 Our internal taskmasters, who admonish us to work harder and never slacken the pace, are powerful. — Cassie Werber, Quartz at Work, "There’s a mindfulness exercise that the strongest leaders need to try," 31 July 2019 Tim Ryan, a congressman from Ohio, admonished Mr Sanders for yelling, perhaps not realising that the senator from Vermont only has one volume setting. — J.f., The Economist, "Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren defend big, bold ideas," 31 July 2019These 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.
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More Definitions for admonish
admonish
verb
English Language Learners Definition of admonish
formal
: to speak to (someone) in a way that expresses disapproval or criticism
: to tell or urge (someone) to do something
See the full definition for admonish in the English Language Learners Dictionary
admonish
verb
ad·mon·ish
| \ ad-ˈmä-nish
\
\
admonished;
admonishing
Kids Definition of admonish
1
: to criticize or warn gently but seriously
The principal admonished a student for talking.
2
: to give friendly advice or encouragement
I admonished them to keep trying.