admonishing

adjective

ad·​mon·​ish·​ing ad-ˈmä-ni-shiŋ 

: serving to admonish : expressing warning or disapproval in usually an earnest or solicitous way

The tranquil profundity of his daily satisfaction seemed sometimes to turn, by a mysterious inward impulse, and face itself with questioning, admonishing, threatening eyes.

—Henry James

The images from Hiroshima seared the consciousness of a generation, forever serving as an admonishing reminder of mankind's destructive capacities.

—Michael Elliott

admonishingly adverb

"But there's a deal o' things to be considered, young man," Mr. Glegg added, looking admonishingly at Tom …

—George Eliot

Synonyms

• admonitory
• cautionary
• cautioning
• exemplary
• monitory
• premonitory
• warning

Examples of admonishing in a Sentence

shot an admonishing glance at me just as I was about to spill the beans

Recent Examples on the Web

Nevertheless, Waterbar received an admonishing phone call from team Drake. —Brock Keeling, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Oct. 2022

Rose protests the admonishing tone, confidently signaling that the French are no better than her. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2022

And what happened on Tuesday was this: In key states and races -- from Virginia to New Jersey to Long Island -- voters leaned toward Republicans, rejecting -- or at least admonishing -- Democrats up to and including President Joe Biden. —Chris Cillizza, CNN, 4 Nov. 2021

But articles also popped up admonishing parents for writing about their kids at all. —Heather Lanier, Longreads, 4 Mar. 2021

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of admonish

First Known Use

circa 1569, in the meaning defined above