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Word of the Day Archive
Monday September 15, 2003

hortatory \HOR-tuh-tor-ee\ , adjective:
Marked by strong urging; serving to encourage or incite; as, "a hortatory speech."

He later gave up the ministry in the conviction that he could reach thousands with his beguiling pen and only hundreds with his hortatory voice.
-- Carl Van Doren, The American Novel, 1789-1939

Instead of "Home Run, Jack," the hortatory message that greets the batter at the plate is the subliminal one that surfaces: "Run Home, Jack."
-- Marjorie Garber, Symptoms of Culture

The former West German Chancellor's book . . . is a call to action, and, even in this good translation, the book relies heavily on the hortatory language of political appeals.
-- Tamar Jacoby, "Carrots and Sticks", New York Times, August 24, 1986

Hortatory is from Latin hortatorius, from hortari, "to exhort, to incite, to encourage."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for hortatory