Meanings
present singular third person admonishes · participle present admonishing · participle past admonished · past admonished · first person past singular admonished · archaic present second person singular admonishest · past second person singular admonished · archaic past second person singular admonishedst · present singular third person admonishes · archaic present singular third person admonisheth · past singular third person admonished · past plural admonished · past subjunctive admonished · participle present admonishing · participle past admonished
- transitiveTo inform or notify of a fault; to rebuke in a serious tone; to tell off.
Better is a poore and a wise child, then an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 4:133 more examples
And further, by these, my sonne, be admonished: of making many bookes there is no end, and much studie is a wearinesse of the flesh.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 12:12Well, that's because he daren't trust you. But in his heart he is not a loyal brother. We know that well. So we watch him and we wait for the time to admonish him.
1914 September – 1915 May, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 27 February 1915, →OCLC[…] But then things take a turn, the men starting to keel over as Walder seems to admonish them for leaving certain threads hanging. […]
2017 July 16, Brandon Nowalk, “Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV ClubSynonyms: reprimand, chide, animadvert, bash, bawl out, tilt, clobber, cannonade
- transitivewith of or againstTo advise against wrongdoing; to caution; to warn against danger or an offense.
“You needn’t stray off too far in doin’ it,” his partner admonished. “If that pack ever starts to jump you, them three cartridges’d be wuth no more’n three whoops in hell. Them animals is damn hungry, an’ once they start in, they’ll sure get you, Bill.”
1906 May–October, Jack London, chapter II, in White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1 (The Wild)Synonyms: caution, adjure, advise, advocate, counsel, encourage, urge, exhort
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo inform or notify of a fault; to rebuke in a serious tone; to tell off.
verbTo advise against wrongdoing; to caution; to warn against danger or an offense.
More synonyms by meaning
verbadvise or counsel in terms of someone's behavior
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinadmoneō“to remind, warn”
- Old French*amonir
- Middle Englisha(d)monisshen
- Englishadmonish
Inherited from Middle English a(d)monisshen, from Old French *amonir + -ishen (“-ish”), from Latin admoneō (“to remind, warn”), with regular shift of conjugation, itself from ad- + moneō (“to warn, advise”). Cognate with Italian ammonire and Portuguese amonir. Compare Middle English amonesten and French admonester.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek νουθετέω, παραινέω
- νουθετέω (nouthetéō)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
- παραινέω (parainéō)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Arabic حَذَّرَ
- حَذَّرَ (ḥaḏḏara)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Bulgarian предупреждавам, съветвам
- предупреждавам (predupreždavam)warn against danger or an offense
- съветвам (săvetvam)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
- поучавам (poučavam)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Catalan amonestar
- amonestarwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Chinese Mandarin 告誡 /告诫
- 告誡 /告诫 (gàojiè)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Czech pokárat, napomenout
- pokáratwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- napomenoutwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- napomínatwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Dutch vermanen
- vermanenwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Esperanto admoni, admoni
- admoniwarn against danger or an offense
- admoniTo instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- admoniwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Finnish varoittaa, tiedottaa
- varoittaawarn against danger or an offense
- tiedottaaTo instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- moittiawarn or notify of a fault; exhort
French avertir, réprimander
- avertirwarn against danger or an offense
- réprimanderTo instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- admonesterwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
German warnen, ermahnen
- warnenwarn against danger or an offense
- ermahnenwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- warnenwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Greek νουθετώ
- νουθετώ (nouthetó)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Hungarian int, figyelmeztet
- intwarn against danger or an offense
- figyelmeztetwarn against danger or an offense
- óva intwarn against danger or an offense
- figyelmeztetwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- megdorgálwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Italian ammonire, ammonire
- ammonirewarn against danger or an offense
- ammonirewarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Japanese 注意する, 警告する
- 注意する (chūi-surú)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
- 警告する (keikoku-surú)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Latin moneo
- moneowarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Norwegian Bokmål advare, irettesette
- advarewarn against danger or an offense
- irettesettewarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- formanewarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Portuguese advertir, prevenir
- advertirwarn against danger or an offense
- prevenirwarn against danger or an offense
- advertirwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- prevenirwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- admoestarwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Russian предостерега́ть, предостере́чь
- предостерега́ть (predosteregátʹ)warn against danger or an offense
- предостере́чь (predosteréčʹ)warn against danger or an offense
- наставля́ть (nastavljátʹ)To instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- укоря́ть (ukorjátʹ)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
- порица́ть (poricátʹ)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Spanish amonestar, reprender
- amonestarwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- reprenderwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Tagalog pagsabihan
- pagsabihanwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Turkish ikaz etmek, kulağını bükmek
- ikaz etmekwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
- kulağını bükmekwarn or notify of a fault; exhort
Ukrainian застеріга́ти, застерегти́
- застеріга́ти (zasteriháty)warn against danger or an offense
- застерегти́ (zasterehtý)warn against danger or an offense
- попереджати (poperedžaty)warn against danger or an offense
- напоумити (napoumyty)To instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- наставляти (nastavljaty)To instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- нагадувати (nahaduvaty)To instruct or direct; to inform; to notify
- робити зауваження (robyty zauvažennja)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
- дорікати (dorikaty)warn or notify of a fault; exhort
Vietnamese bảo ban
- bảo banwarn against danger or an offense
Cite this entry
admonish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/admonish
“admonish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/admonish. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “admonish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/admonish.
Source: admonish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.