expostulation
The act of reasoning earnestly in order to dissuade or remonstrate.
Noun
- The act of reasoning earnestly in order to dissuade or remonstrate.
- [H]eedless of my expostulations and the growling thunder, and the great drops that began to plash around her, she remained calling, at intervals, and then listening, and then crying outright. - 1847 December, Ellis Bell...
- At length, by dint of much wriggling, and loud and incessant expostulations upon the unbecomingness of his hugging a fellow male in that matrimonial sort of style, I succeeded in extracting a grunt […] - 1851 November...
- The official declined to listen to any expostulations. - 1921 October, Maxwell H. H. Macartney, “An Ex-Enemy in Berlin to-Day”, in The Atlantic:
Origin
From Latin expostulātiōnem, accusative singular of expostulātiō (“complaint, expostulation”), from expostulō (“demand, expostulate”), from ex (“out of, from”) + postulō (“demand or claim”). See expostulate.
Forms
Related
demur exception objection protest protestation remonstrance remonstration squawk kick