Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use cautionary in a sentence

14 example sentences · adjective

Cautionary means serving to caution or warn; admonitory. Example: “Most parents were optimistic, but others sounded a cautionary note.”

Examples of cautionary by meaning

adjectiveServing to caution or warn; admonitory.

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

More sentences with cautionary

  • Dismal Jemmy's con artistry estranges the cautionary temperance tale in two crucial ways.2018, Amanda Claybaugh, The Novel of Purpose, page 63. From the entry con artistry
  • These sites contain living spirits, or Shxweli, and stand as cautionary tales from their ancestors.2017 April 22, Francesca Bianco and Holly McKenzie Sutter, “Set in Stone: Stó:lō ancestors' spirits live in Fraser Valley landmarks”, in…. From the entry Stó:lō
  • We’ve now had 20 years of cautionary tales about replyallpocalypses.2017 February 3, Elle Hunt, “When is it appropriate to reply all? Mostly never”, in The Guardian. From the entry nuclear
  • The geth serve as a cautionary tale against the dangers of rogue AI, and in Citadel Space they are technically illegal.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Computers: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Codex entry. From the entry ai
  • The song is a cautionary tale, intended to help victims – help them, that is, by ridiculing them – into recovery.2003 May 23, Kelefah Sanneh, “Fashion Tip in Rap for Brooklyn Girls”, in New York Times. From the entry cameltoe
  • And will America’s maestro of the siren song, President Donald Trump, prove a powerful inspiration, or a cautionary tale, for voters in other democracies?2025 May 8, Ned Temko, “Centrists’ only weapon against the far right: Good government”, in The Christian Science Monitor. From the entry siren song
  • This tone has slowly given way to a realization that the country’s experience might be less a curiosity than a cautionary tale.2018 November 13, Kate Julian, “Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?”, in The Atlantic. From the entry cautionary tale
  • Likewise, through the study of cautionary tales of ecoapocalypses, a more beneficial conceptualization of the relationship between humankind and the natural environment can be envisioned.2008, Miguel López-Lozano, Utopian Dreams, Apocalyptic Nightmares, page 231. From the entry ecoapocalypse
  • "The DfT appears to have put things on a firmer footing, but the path is littered with cautionary tales of transport projects that later went off the rails.2022 August 10, Mel Holley, “Network News: Question marks over TransPennine upgrade spending”, in RAIL, number 963, page 24. From the entry firmer
  • Suddenly, Sweden – a country to which most conservatives had previously paid almost zero attention – was held up throughout the Trumposphere as a cautionary tale about immigration.2017 March 6, Jeff Sparrow, “The stench of the Iraq war lingers behind today's preoccupation with fake news”, in The Guardian. From the entry Trumposphere
  • Meanwhile, newfangled drugsploitation flicks like Maryjane and The Hooked Generation invaded drive-ins, providing cautionary tales while the smell of those funny scented cigarettes filled the night air.2004, Irv Slifkin, VideoHound's Groovy Movies: Far-out Films of the Psychedelic Era, Visible Ink Press, →ISBN, page 201. From the entry drugsploitation
  • Robby Benson is director as well as star of Crack in the Mirror (Cannon Oxford St, etc, 18), a cautionary (i.e. glorificatory) tale of cocaine dealing and use.1989 May 25, Tim Pulleine, “At the heart of darkness […]”, in The Guardian, London; Manchester, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 23, column 4. From the entry glorificatory
  • The job offer was withdrawn and 'Cisco Fatty' became a legendary mistweet and a cautionary tale for all those who blurt out such thoughts without setting their account to private.2012, Tim Collins, The Little Book of Twitter: Get Tweetwise!. From the entry mistweet

Meaning of cautionary

  1. adjective Serving to caution or warn; admonitory.
  2. adjective Serving to ward off; preventive.
  3. adjective Held as security or hostage.

Full definition of cautionary

Questions about cautionary in a sentence

How do you use cautionary in a sentence?
Cautionary is used as an adjective. For example: “Most parents were optimistic, but others sounded a cautionary note.”
What is a short sentence with cautionary?
“Most parents were optimistic, but others sounded a cautionary note.”
What does cautionary mean?
Cautionary means serving to caution or warn; admonitory.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cautionary (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use cautionary in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/cautionary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.