admonish

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 18, 2025 is: admonish \ad-MAH-nish\ verb To admonish someone is to express warning or disapproval towards them, or to urge them to do something. // We were admonished for arriving late to the meeting. // They were admonished to take advantage of the opportunity. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/admonish) Examples: "My parents admonished me and my siblings to stay away from the windows." — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2023 Did you know? We won't admonish you if you don't know the origins of admonish. This word, along with its archaic synonym [monish](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monish), likely traces back to the Latin verb monēre, meaning "to bring to the notice of," "to remind," and "to warn." Among monēre's other English descendants are [monitor](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monitor), [premonition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premonition), [monument](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monument), and (gulp) [monster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monster). Admonishing someone (for, say, being late) hardly risks being labeled a monster, however. While a word like [rebuke](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebuke) suggests sternness and severity, admonish usually suggests friendly, gentle, or earnest criticizing done in the spirit of counselling and instructing.