Word of the Day Archive
Sunday April 16, 2006
hortatory \HOR-tuh-tor-ee\
, adjective:
Marked by strong urging; serving to encourage or incite; as, "a hortatory speech."
He later gave up the ministry in the conviction that he could reach thousands with his beguiling pen and only hundreds with his hortatory voice.
-- Carl Van Doren, The American Novel, 1789-1939
Instead of "Home Run, Jack," the hortatory message that greets the batter at the plate is the subliminal one that surfaces: "Run Home, Jack."
-- Marjorie Garber, Symptoms of Culture
The former West German Chancellor's book . . . is a call to action, and, even in this good translation, the book relies heavily on the hortatory language of political appeals.
-- Tamar Jacoby, "Carrots and Sticks", New York Times, August 24, 1986
Hortatory is from Latin hortatorius, from hortari, "to exhort, to incite, to encourage."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for hortatory
