admonition

/ˌædməˈnɪʃən/

//ˌædməˈnɪʃən// noun

"admonition" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“admonition” is uncommon English (frequency #52,130 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,130
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A rebuke by an authority that one has erred and should not persist in one's actions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-admonition · admonition · English

admonition · rank #52,130 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,130
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Adolphus

Nearest frequency peer: Adolphus (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “admonition”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “admonition” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for admonition
PropertyValue
Headwordadmonition
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌædməˈnɪʃən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#52,130
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “admonition” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).admonitionfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Adolphus” (#52,131), “acquaint” (#52,128), “Ainslie” (#52,132). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “admonition” is #52,130. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

admonition is uncommon English at frequency #52,130 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌædməˈnɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A rebuke by an authority that one has erred and should not persist in one's actions.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for admonition, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English amonicioun, from Old French amonicion, from Latin admonitio, stem of admonere. The -d- was restored in English in the 17th century. The correct English form is admonition, spelled A-D-M-O-N-I-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A rebuke by an authority that one has erred and should not persist in one's actions.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how admonition appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But modesty cannot be implanted by admonition only—the elders must set the example.

Etymology

From Middle English amonicioun, from Old French amonicion, from Latin admonitio, stem of admonere. The -d- was restored in English in the 17th century.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "admonition"?
"admonition" is spelled A-D-M-O-N-I-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌædməˈnɪʃən/.
What does "admonition" mean?
As a noun, "admonition" means: A rebuke by an authority that one has erred and should not persist in one's actions.
How do you pronounce "admonition"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "admonition" is /ˌædməˈnɪʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "admonition"?
From Middle English amonicioun, from Old French amonicion, from Latin admonitio, stem of admonere. The -d- was restored in English in the 17th century. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "admonition", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list