cautionary tale

[kaw-shuh-ner-ee teyl] / ˈkɔ ʃəˌnɛr i ˈteɪl /

NOUN

piece of advice

Synonyms

WEAK

a few words of wisdom admonition advisory caution light caveat deterrent example enough said event illustrating a hazard forewarning hint lesson message moral omen portent red flag sign of things to come wake-up call warning word to the wise

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“The period from 2000 to 2010 is the cautionary tale here,” Colas says of the period when the S&P 500’s annualized returns were negative and it ended the decade below where it began.

From Barron's

Albert Birney, the director, co-writer and star, delivers a black-and-white ode to a previous era’s slippery boundaries between real existence and the 8-bit kind that isn’t quite a cautionary tale, nor does it want to be one.

From Los Angeles Times

Abdel-Fattah, a novelist, lawyer and academic, had been invited to the festival to discuss her latest novel Discipline – which she describes as "a cautionary tale about the cost of silence and cowardice".

From BBC

It is also a cautionary tale about writers’ aspirations—albeit one that is both gripping and relentlessly entertaining.

From The Wall Street Journal

Like this man who wrote to the Moneyist, you were put on notice by a cautionary tale involving someone you knew.

From MarketWatch