commination.

1. A formal threat or denunciation announcing punishment or condemnation.

2. A Church of England service of penitence traditionally associated with Ash Wednesday and denunciations of sin.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a solemn commination
• commination against offenders

On the page

The manuscript’s solemn commination named consequences it never demonstrated.

The speaker read the commination while the listeners watched the closed door.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.