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to caution, advise, or counsel against something.
to reprove or scold, especially in a mild and good-willed manner:
the teacher admonished him about excessive noise.
to urge to a duty; remind:
to admonish them about their obligations.
contemporary examples

browne told the times, on the second go ’round, that kelly admonished the film.
ray kelly’s dalliance with the islamophobic fringes ali gharib july 18, 2013

so with its top editorial executive, the times did as it did, not as admonished others to do.
the hypocrisy behind the new york times’s abrupt decapitation of jill abramson robert shrum may 17, 2014

katy perry was admonished for dressing up as an angel while tailing her grandmother to an event.
melissa rivers: life after joan—a funny, moving celebration on a special ‘fashion police’ tim teeman september 19, 2014

kan is reported to have admonished—even yelled at—tepco officials for failing to keep the government properly informed.
j-pan nuclear nightmare: tokyo fears radiation lennox samuels, takashi yokota march 14, 2011

borges once admonished a translator of beowulf for making his creation “more primitive than the original.”
who is the best western novelist? allen barra november 9, 2010

historical examples

“you mustn’t think about such ancient history, elfreda,” admonished grace.
grace harlowe’s third year at overton college jessie graham flower

he promised a continuance of his favors, and admonished them to be grateful.
the last of the mohicans james fenimore cooper

“your holiness must enter alone,” cardinal barbadico admonished, with manifest reluctance.
the twilight of the g-ds, and other tales richard garnett

at the first sign of it he was admonished with a vigor to deter his comrades.
the story of the great war, volume ii (of viii) various

“you don’t want to make a pig of yourself, codfish,” admonished carncross.
the rover boys on a hunt arthur m. winfield (edward stratemeyer)

verb (transitive)
to reprove firmly but not harshly
to advise to do or against doing something; warn; caution
v.

mid-14c., amonesten “remind, urge, exhort, warn, give warning,” from old french amonester (12c.) “urge, encourage, warn,” from vulgar latin -admonestare, from latin admonere “bring to mind, remind, suggest;” also “warn, advise, urge,” from ad- “to” (see ad-) + monere “advise, warn” (see monitor (n.)).

the -d- was restored on latin model. the ending was influenced by words in -ish (e.g. astonish, abolish). related: admonished; admonishing.