Basic Details
Word: Exhortation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A strong, earnest call or appeal to someone to do something, often given in a speech.
Synonyms: urging, encouragement, appeal
Antonyms: discouragement
How to Spell Exhortation
Syllables: ex - hor - ta - tion
Tricky part: The h after x is silent, so many students write exortation. The vowel after t is a: ta-tion.
Watch out for: exortation, exhortasion, exhertation
Memory tip: Exhort keeps a silent h after ex, just like exhaust and exhibit. Three ex words, three hidden h's.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The coach's exhortation before the final lifted the team's spirits.
Example 2: Despite repeated exhortations from the warden, the boys kept talking after lights out.
Example 3: The leaflet was an exhortation to save water during the summer.
Fun Fact
The St Crispin's Day speech that Shakespeare wrote for King Henry V, spoken before the Battle of Agincourt, is one of the most famous exhortations in English.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
ex_ort_tion
a) h, i
b) s, e
c) c, a
d) h, a
Show answer
d) h, a. Exhort has a silent h after x, and the ending is ation.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The headmaster's rnhtatoixeo to work harder was printed on the notice board.
a) exhortation
b) exhalation
c) exhibition
d) exhaustion
Show answer
a) exhortation. Exhaustion needs a u and s, exhibition a b, and exhalation an l, so only exhortation fits.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word exhortation as used in the sentence:
Ignoring the teacher's exhortation to revise daily, Arjun left everything for the last week.
a) silence
b) urging
c) prohibition
d) punishment
Show answer
b) urging. The teacher kept urging Arjun to revise every day.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which sentence is an exhortation?
a) Is the top very far?
b) I reached the top yesterday.
c) Keep going, you can reach the top.
d) The top is two hundred metres away.
Show answer
c) Keep going, you can reach the top.
2. A person who exhorts others ____.
a) strongly urges them to act
b) quietly ignores them
c) pays them money
d) laughs at them
Show answer
a) strongly urges them to act
