advisory

advisory — adjective

IPA/ədˈvaɪzəri/
KK[ædvˈaɪzɚi]IPA/ədˈvaɪzəri/
  • advisorypositive
  • more advisorycomparative
  • most advisorysuperlative

1. describes a person, group, or document whose job is to share expert opinions and

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describes a person, group, or document whose job is to share expert opinions and suggestions, rather than to make final decisions or carry out the work.

Example

Dr. Noa serves on an advisory panel that helps the Ministry of Health plan flu vaccines.

advisory + panel/board/committee

Bram took an advisory role at the start-up after retiring from his bank.

advisory role / advisory capacity

Common collocations
  • advisory board
  • advisory committee
  • advisory panel
  • advisory role
  • advisory capacity
  • purely advisory
Synonyms
  • consultative

    more formal; stresses being consulted before a decision is made

  • advising

    less common as an adjective; mainly used in titles like 'advising professor'

Antonyms
  • executive

    having power to decide and act, not just suggest

  • binding

    a binding decision must be followed; an advisory one need not be

Grammar Patterns

advisory + noun

Usage Note

Almost always used before a noun (advisory board, advisory role, advisory committee). When used after a verb like 'be', it usually contrasts with binding decisions: 'the report is advisory, not binding'.

Common Mistakes

The teacher was very advisory to me yesterday.
The teacher gave me a lot of advice yesterday.
'advisory' rarely describes a one-off act of giving advice; use 'gave advice' or 'advised' instead.

advisory — noun

IPA/ədˈvaɪ.zər.i/
KK[ædvˈaɪzɚi]IPA/ədˈvaɪ.zɚ.i/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four describe public notices, but they differ in urgency, detail, and source. An 'advisory' is the most informative: an official body explains a situation (heat, flooding, an unsafe website) and usually suggests what people should do, but the danger is not yet immediate. A 'warning' is broader and stronger — any sign that something bad may happen counts as a warning, from a parent's words to a road sign. An 'alert' signals real, present danger and demands action now: tsunami alerts and amber alerts are not optional reading. A 'bulletin' is shorter and more news-style, often a quick update without instructions. So a city might first release a heat advisory at 33 °C, upgrade it to a warning at 36 °C, and finally issue an alert when hospitals fill up.

advisory ↗warning ↗alert ↗bulletin ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • purely advisory
  • strictly advisory
  • merely advisory

Phrases

  • in an advisory capacity
  • issue an advisory
  • lift an advisory
  • travel advisory
  • weather advisory

Prepositions

  • advisory on
  • advisory about
  • advisory for
  • advisory to

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Built from the verb 'advise' (from Old French 'aviser', meaning 'to consider' or 'to give an opinion') plus the Latin-origin ending '-ory', which forms adjectives meaning 'connected with the action of'. The adjective use appeared first in English in the late 1700s. The noun use — meaning a public notice — grew in 20th-century American English, especially in weather and shipping reports, where short bulletins from federal agencies were called 'advisories'.