Hortative
//ˈhɔːtətɪv// adj, noun
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mood or class of imperative subjunctive moods of a verb for giving strong encouragement.
Adjective
- 1 Urging, exhorting, or encouraging. comparable
"The ministration of these oracles from the pulpit is to be reformed from any of its factitious peculiarities, and made again what it was among the apostles and their immediate successors—earnest, simple, powerful address—hortative talk, if we may so call it."
- 2 Of a mood or class of imperative subjunctive moods of a verb for giving strong encouragement. not-comparable
Adjective
- 1 giving strong encouragement wordnet
Example
More examples"The ministration of these oracles from the pulpit is to be reformed from any of its factitious peculiarities, and made again what it was among the apostles and their immediate successors—earnest, simple, powerful address—hortative talk, if we may so call it."
Etymology
From Latin hortātīvus, from hortor (“I exhort”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.