hortative

9.9

To urge people strongly to do something

adjective
/ˈhɔːrtətɪv/

Specialized

: exhortativo

The principal made a hortative speech urging students to work harder for their exams.

Examples

This document adopts a hortative style, emphasizing action and participation by all employees.
The coach's hortative speech motivated the team.
Her tone became hortative as she encouraged the team to keep pushing toward their goal.
Let's take a hortative stance on this issue!
The principal made a hortative speech urging students to work harder for their exams.
Her tone became hortative as she encouraged the team to keep pushing toward their goal.
This document adopts a hortative style, emphasizing action and participation by all employees.

Synonyms

encouraging

vshortative

73 1.9

Giving someone support or hope so they feel more confident

presses strongly for action rather than offering only support

exhortative

vshortative

Formal

8.6

Strongly encouraging someone to take action

is identical in meaning but serves as an alternate form

hortatory

vshortative

Formal

9.9

Strongly encourage people to take action

expresses strong encouragement more generally, not only a specific course

exhortatory

vshortative

Formal

9.3

To encourage someone strongly to do something

expresses strong encouragement without the earnest tone

How Encouraging

exhortatory

Formal

9.3

hortative

Specialized

9.9

encouraging

73 1.9

advisory

Formal

48 4.2

Surface Forms

hortative positive

Morphology

hortative = hort + ative

Although the adjectival suffix '-ative' is productive, the root 'hort' is not a standalone English word, so learners cannot reliably derive the meaning from the components.

Etymology

Hortative comes from the Latin hortari, which means 'to urge' or 'to encourage'. You can see the same root in English exhort, so something hortative is meant to push people to act and strongly encourage action.