oratory
noun
skill or eloquence in public speaking.
oratory
1 American
[awr-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, or-]
/ ˈɔr əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, ˈɒr- /
noun
-
skill or eloquence in public speaking.
The evangelist moved thousands to repentance with his oratory.
- Synonyms:
- declamation, delivery, rhetoric
-
the art of public speaking, especially in a formal and eloquent manner.
oratory
2
American
[awr-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, or-]
/ ˈɔr əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, ˈɒr- /
noun
-
oratories
plural
-
a place of prayer, as a small chapel or a room for private devotions.
-
(initial capital letter) any of the religious societies of secular priests who live in religious communities but do not take vows.
Oratory
1
British
/ -trɪ, ˈɒrətərɪ /
noun
-
Also called: Congregation of the Oratory. the religious society of secular priests ( Oratorians ) living in a community founded by St Philip Neri
-
any church belonging to this society
the Brompton Oratory
oratory
2
British
/ ˈɒrətərɪ, -trɪ /
noun
-
the art of public speaking
-
rhetorical skill or style
oratory
3
British
/ -trɪ, ˈɒrətərɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of oratory1
1580–90; < Latin ōrātōria, noun use of feminine of ōrātōrius of an orator. See orator, -tory 1
Origin of oratory2
1300–50; Middle English < Late Latin ōrātōrium place of prayer. See orator, -tory 2
Explanation
An oratory is a long, formal speech. Often one that's a bit puffy and overblown, making you think the speaker really likes the sound of his own voice. Oratory is from the Latin word oratorius for "speaking or pleading." In fact, oratories often leave audiences pleading for an end to the speech. They're the kind of thing evangelical preachers are good at. An oratory is also a little chapel, from the Latin oratorium for "a place of prayer," or a specific group of Roman Catholics, who name their oratories after where they're built, like the Brooklyn Oratory.
Vocabulary lists containing oratory
Speech and Debate
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President Obama's Speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
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myPerspectives 9.3
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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.
See Examples For:
With his father often on the road, the pastor of their church became a mentor to Thomas and noticed his oratory skills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
His gift for oratory could energize all kinds of people, including workers, presidents and other heads of state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2025
It announced that the school oratory would be open on Saturday and Sunday for pupils and their families to come together to remember Tiarnán.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2025
They were masterpieces of political oratory not despite their lack of weighty marble-clad phrases but because of it.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024
Lincoln set a new standard for political oratory, but he didn’t abolish what went before—and the high style is still visible in Lincoln’s successors.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Hundreds of people made their way to St Mary's Oratory in the town to pay their respects.
From BBC ● May 17, 2025
The London Oratory School's alumni include actor Simon Callow, trade unionist Mick Whelan, as well as the children of the former prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2023
The More Oratory Reveals Only Nothingness bill to encourage legislators to sit down and listen once in a while.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2021
The Oratory of San Lorenzo on Via Immacolatella in Palermo is surrounded by a tangle of streets so narrow and twisty that I got quite close to the building without seeing it.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2020
He stops running at the steps of St. Catherine’s Oratory, where he sits down and takes out his steaming, battered prize, leaving a trail of gravy on his shirt.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
She would go off on these different speech oratories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
The Vatican has already shut down St Peter's Square and St Peter's Basilica while allowing only a small number of oratories in convents and monasteries to remain open.
From Fox News ● Mar. 13, 2020
Almost half of the oratories came from President Bill Clinton, who went on a two-term coffin fit by speaking at 26 funerals between 1994 and 2001.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2018
The country has about 6,000 parish centers for young people, called oratories, and almost all have sports facilities, said Don Marco Mori, president of the Forum of Italian Oratories.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2010
From the oratories of the Compagnie and the parlors of the convents this peculiar form of art was extended to the Courts and public theaters.
From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by John Addington Symonds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
