From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishadmonishad‧mon‧ish /ədˈmɒnɪʃ $ -ˈmɑː-/ verb [transitive] formalTELL somebody OFF to tell someone severely that they have done something wrongadmonish somebody for (doing) something The witness was admonished for failing to answer the question. —admonishment noun [countable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
admonish• No wonder I was constantly admonished by my father to summon all my meager spiritual resources and be on my best behavior.• Before he released the panel, Weisberg admonished jurors to avoid the massive publicity generated by their verdicts.• Though admonished not to by the funeral director, I want to touch her.• Perhaps he had been surprised to be greeted by an adult who didn't either admonish or cross-examine him.• He then proceeded tactfully to admonish the theorists of botany in order to protect the practitioners of gardening.• Go ahead, admonished the voice, but see if you can look yourself in the eye tomorrow morning.admonish somebody for (doing) something• The witness was admonished for refusing to answer the question.Origin admonish (1300-1400) Old French admonester, from Latin admonere “to warn”, from ad- “to” + monere “to warn” 