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admonished - 2 dictionary results

ad⋅mon⋅ish

  [ad-mon-ish]
Use admonished in a Sentence
–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 admonēre to remind, give advice to (source of -est- uncert.), equiv. to ad- ad- + monēre 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To admonished
ad·mon·ish   (ād-mŏn'ĭsh)   
tr.v.   ad·mon·ished, ad·mon·ish·ing, ad·mon·ish·es
  1. To reprove gently but earnestly.
  2. To counsel (another) against something to be avoided; caution.
  3. 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).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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