If you had no idea what the word expostulate meant, you might guess it means to remove yourself from the postal system, like Kramer does in Seinfeld. "I'd like to cancel my mail... I want out. Permanently!"

I kind of wish we did have a word for that! But expostulate means "to urgently talk someone out of doing something." Let's imagine an example.

Your best friend has texted you this:

"I just got a work-from-home job! It's an amazing opportunity! I could earn thousands a day! All I had to do was spend three hundred dollars on a kit to get started!"

You immediately text back:

"Hey, buddy, slow down. It's a scam. You'll never earn any money this way. You'll just waste your time and alienate everyone you know. Please, get out while you can."

Or maybe you called them instead of texted, with urgency in your voice. Either way, in this scenario, you're expostulating with your friend: doing your best to dissuade them, to get them to change course. You're arguing with your friend, protesting against their plans, re___strating with them.

Can you recall that last synonym? It means "arguing sternly as you strongly object to something."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

The word "expostulate" has been around in English since the year 1548 or so. It has Latin bits that literally mean "to demand (something) from (someone)." The ex- bit means "from," and the rest traces back to postulare, "to demand."

When you expostulate with people, you talk with them to try to convince them to NOT do something.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, usually the intransitive kind: "He's expostulating again;" "She's expostulating with her parents;" "They're expostulating on that topic."

Other forms: 

Expostulated, expostulating;
expostulation(s);
expostulative (or, if you prefer, expostulatory), expostulatively;
expostulator(s).

how to use it:

Pick the semi-common, ultra-formal word "expostulate" when you want to strike a dire tone as you describe someone urgently trying to talk someone else out of doing something. The person doing the expostulating is usually doing it for a good reason, with a sense of authority, and with the other person's best interest in mind.

Say that someone is expostulating with that other person: "He tried expostulating with her, but she keeps riding that motorcycle on rainy nights."

Or, say that someone is expostulating on or upon some subject: "Don't bother expostulating with her on the dangers of motorcycling on rainy nights. She won't listen."

examples:

(Source)

"With Nixon vigorously expostulating and pointing his finger into the chest of the impassive Khrushchev, the contestants look like bickering clowns." 
   — Ken Johnson, New York Times, 9 June 2011

"He ran out of the house, down its long, curving driveway, and onto the sidewalk, still expostulating with the Almighty: 'Lord, give me another chance…. Haven't I brought happiness to anyone in this world?'"
   — Joan Acocella, The New Yorker, 4 March 2015

has this page helped you understand "expostulate"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "expostulate" without saying "dissuade" or "persuade against."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "When (some person or fictional character) is (doing something reckless or unwise), (someone else) tries expostulating with (him or her)."

Example: "When Mal wants to do business with a dangerous acquaintance, Zoe tries expostulating with him. 'Sir, we don't want to deal with Patience again... She shot you.'"

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Palindromes in Poems: Yay!

Check out the snippet of a poem, and supply the missing palindrome: the word spelled the same backward and forward, like "yay," "sees," or "racecar." Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and _____ sands stretch far away."   
   — Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias," 1818

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of letters in this palindrome is... five.
Hint 2: The letter that this palindrome starts and ends with is... "L."

review this word:

1. The opposite of EXPOSTULATE could be

A. ENRAGE.
B. ENSNARE.
C. ENCOURAGE.

2. In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bells," the "loud alarum bells" make a "_____ to the mercy of the fire," "a mad expostulation."

A. clamorous appealing
B. sinking and a swelling
C. jingling and a tinkling

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. A Answer to the game question: "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away."       — Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias," 1818

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.