Hortatory is an adjective that means ‘tending to exhort.’

Coming from the Latin word hortari (hor TAR ay) which means ‘to exhort’ or ‘strongly encourage,’ hortatory is often used in a religious context to refer to someone delivering a sermon. When a message is conveyed in a way that is similar to a sermon, we can call it hortatory.

Ryan’s hortatory speech about the Federal Reserve made me want to put a twenty in a collection plate for the government. But I guess that’s what happens when you seem to be delivering a sermon.