cautionary

CEFRC1

/ˈkɔːʃənəɹi/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Intended to warn people about danger or mistakes.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Held as security or hostage

Examples

  • The company's journey to bankruptcy presented a cautionary tale on the pitfalls of corporate greed.

  • Most parents were optimistic, but others sounded a cautionary note.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1

Also pronounced

  • /ˈkoː.ʃə.nə.ɹi/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Serving to ward off; preventive

  2. Serving to caution or warn; admonitory

More examples

In context

  • It's a cautionary tale.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The teacher shared a blank tale about the dangers of skipping classes to fail exams.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

Borrowed from Medieval Latin cautiōnārius.