admonish

admonish
verb

admonished; admonishing; admonishes
Synonyms 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
… 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
admonisher noun
pluraladmonishers
admonishment
ad-;m;-nish-m;nt
 noun
pluraladmonishments


Did you know?
When should you use admonish?

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 mon;re, meaning "to bring to the notice of," "to remind," and "to warn." Among mon;re'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.

Synonyms
chide
rebuke
reprimand
reproach
reprove
tick off
Choose the Right Synonym for admonish

reprove, rebuke, reprimand, admonish, reproach, chide mean to criticize adversely.

reprove implies an often kindly intent to correct a fault.

gently reproved my table manners
rebuke suggests a sharp or stern reproof.

the papal letter rebuked dissenting clerics
reprimand implies a severe, formal, often public or official rebuke.

reprimanded by the ethics committee
admonish suggests earnest or friendly warning and counsel.

admonished by my parents to control expenses
reproach and chide suggest displeasure or disappointment expressed in mild reproof or scolding.

reproached him for tardiness
chided by their mother for untidiness
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 on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At the White House on Friday, Vance also admonished Zelenskyy for not expressing gratitude to the United States.
—Adriana P;rez, Chicago Tribune, 3 Mar. 2025
The Journal has questioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stances on vaccines, knocked Trump for pulling security privileges for former top aides and admonished him for pardoning Jan. 6 prisoners.
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 9 Feb. 2025
Zelensky said Trump was falling into a Russian disinformation trap — and was quickly admonished by Vice President JD Vance about the perils of publicly criticizing the new president.
—Aamer Madhani, TIME, 19 Feb. 2025
The judge admonished us daily to not discuss any of the details of the trial with anybody.
—Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History
Etymology
Middle English amonysshen, admonisshen, amonescen, alteration (with assimilation to the verbal suffix -issh, -esce, borrowed from Anglo-French -iss-, going back to the Latin inceptive suffix -;sc-, -;sc-) of amonesten, borrowed from Anglo-French amonester, going back to Vulgar Latin *admonest;re, probably derivative of *admonestus, past participle of Latin admon;re "to give a reminder to, give advice to, caution" (modeled on comestus, past participle of comedere "to eat up, consume") from ad- ad- + mon;re "to bring to the notice of, give warning" — more at mind entry 1

Note: The source of *admonest;re is uncertain. A cross between admon;re and molest;re, "to disturb, annoy, worry," has been hypothesized, though the lack of any Romance progeny for molestus, molest;re, etc., militates against the presence of this verb in proto-Romance.

First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of admonish was in the 14th century
See more words from the same century