admonishment - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: admonishment

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ad·mon·ish

Audio Help [ad-mon-ish] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to caution, advise, or counsel against something.

2.	to reprove or scold, esp. in a mild and good-willed manner: The teacher admonished him about excessive noise.

3.	to urge to a duty; remind: to admonish them about their obligations.

[Origin: 1275–1325; late ME admonish, amonesche, admonesse, amoness, ME a(d)monest (with -t later taken as ptp. suffix) < AF, OF amonester < VL *admonestāre, appar. deriv. of L admonére to remind, give advice to (source of -est- uncert.), equiv. to ad- ad- + monére to remind, warn

]

—Related forms

ad·mon·ish·er, noun

ad·mon·ish·ing·ly, adverb

ad·mon·ish·ment, noun

—Synonyms 1. See warn. 2. rebuke, censure, upbraid. See reprimand.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ad·mon·ish Audio Help (ād-mŏn'ĭsh) Pronunciation Key
tr.v. ad·mon·ished, ad·mon·ish·ing, ad·mon·ish·es

To reprove gently but earnestly.
To counsel (another) against something to be avoided; caution.
To remind of something forgotten or disregarded, as an obligation or a responsibility.

[Middle English amonishen, admonishen, alteration of amonesten, from Old French amonester, admonester, from Vulgar Latin *admonestāre, from Latin admonēre : ad-, ad- + monēre, to warn; see men-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

ad·mon'ish·er n., ad·mon'ish·ing·ly adv., ad·mon'ish·ment n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to correct or caution critically. Admonish implies the giving of advice or a warning in order to rectify or avoid something: "A gallows erected on an eminence admonished the offenders of the fate that awaited them" (William Hickling Prescott).
Reprove usually suggests gentle criticism and constructive intent: With a quick look, the teacher reproved the child for whispering in class.
Rebuke and reprimand both refer to sharp, often angry criticism: "Some of the most heated criticism . . . has come from the Justice Department, which rarely rebukes other agencies in public" (Howard Kurtz). "A committee at [the university] asked its president to reprimand a scientist who tested gene-altered bacteria on trees" (New York Times).
Reproach usually refers to regretful or unhappy criticism arising from a sense of disappointment: "Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach" (Samuel Johnson).