Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of expostulating or remonstrating with a person or persons; argumentative protest; dissuasion.
- n. In rhetoric, an address containing expostulation.
Wiktionary
- n. countable The act of reasoning earnestly in order to dissuade or remonstrate.
- n. uncountable A comment of earnest reasoning meant to dissuade or remonstrate.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of expostulating or reasoning with a person in opposition to some impropriety of conduct; remonstrance; earnest and kindly protest; dissuasion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the act of expressing earnest opposition or protest
- n. an exclamation of protest or remonstrance or reproof
Etymologies
- From Latin expostulātiōnem, accusative singular of expostulātiō ("complaint, expostulation"), from expostulō ("demand, expostulate"), from ex ("out of, from") + postulō ("demand or claim"). See expostulate. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The amount of anticipatory glee I have while awaiting a Biden expostulation is no doubt directly proportional to the angst Obama feels with the same anticipation.”
“One was whipped deftly on to his plate, and as he took up his knife and fork to carve it, a great scuffling sounded without, angry voices being raised in expostulation, and, above all, a breathless, insistent appeal for Mr. Carr or Sir Miles.”
“Well, Daddy! said Norah in expostulation – whereat everybody laughed.”
“I am proud to say I had as much influence over the Boers as over the Kafirs, and by a kind and persuasive manner in expostulation, had they meditated such a step, I could at once have deterred them.”
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
“The Dewan roared; the burden of his expostulation was the word liar.”
“The voice of the stranger was raised as though in anger or altercation, while that of the Governor was pitched lower, in tones that seemed to convey the idea of expostulation, entreaty, and apology.”
“The Vatican decrees and the "expostulation" by Robert Rodolph Suffield”
“They sent off a kind of expostulation, which amounted to this -- "How now, my good sir?”
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843
“Since it is often applied to produce predictions based on INSUFFICIENT or INCOMPLETE datasets, I'd say you're right, it's eminently applicable to a good bit of the expostulation posted in this thread (any reply?). [by the way, did you get the Wordsworth pun?] red”
“Had he sprung at her, or snarled, or shown any anger or resentment such as did the other dogs when so treated by her, she would have screamed and screeched and raised a hubbub of expostulation, crying for help and calling all men to witness how she was being unwarrantably attacked.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘expostulation’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Moby Dick
Words of interest from the book Moby Dick.
arrant, obstreperously, coffer-dam, farrago, rejoinder, counterpane, hamper, commend, grego, dreadnought, psalmody, expostulation and 85 more...
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A Refined Lexicon
ambivalence, ambivalent, equivocal, equivocation, equivocate, prevaricate, prevarication, quietude, quiescent, quiescence, vanquish, pluviosity and 137 more...
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Words from Moby Dick
frigate, presumptuous, genteel, succor, hearthstone, gentry, factitious, bilious, insurgent, portent, enervate, genuflect and 303 more...
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Sugarbuzz's Words
buzz, widget, haiku, manifesto, warble, supernova, attenuate, mania, diabolical, behemoth, beguile, lascivious and 106 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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2007bee-r03
antioxidant, rambla, trafficking, volplane, sluice, jettison, insomnolence, egyptiac, claque, provincial, satisfice, trumpery and 95 more...
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Favourite Words
sanguine, irk, pith, venerate, anomaly, reprobate, ethereal, antediluvian, obfuscate, wistful, plethora, absinthe and 108 more...
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2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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set 8
part two from from 4
grisly, mincing, succor, punctilious, thrall, grudging, seethe, bivouac, automaton, broach, maelstrom, expostulation and 80 more...
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Article Words
GRE study words from articles read in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic and The Economist
egalitarian, iterate, boon, vie, cadre, bandied, valuation, bandy, akimbo, expostulation, truncheon, rout and 3 more...
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diffcult-list18
eulogy, euphemism, euphony, euphoria, euthanasia, evanescence, evasive, evince, evenhanded, evocative, evoke, exacerbate and 32 more...
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Pride and Prejudice
Words taken from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
mien, pliancy, ductility, majoralty, denominate, vingt-un, twelvemonth, ragout, blowsy, loo, piquet, precipitance and 50 more...
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GRE words to which I am resistant
dissemble, ingenuous, welter, supersede, anneal, assay, actuate, advert, chisel, comity, chaffing, contravene and 19 more...
Tweets
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