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definitions

declaim

[dih-kleym]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR declaim ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to speak aloud in an oratorical manner; make a formal speech: Brutus declaimed from the steps of the Roman senate building.
to inveigh (usually followed by against): He declaimed against the high rents in slums.
to speak or write for oratorical effect, as without sincerity or sound argument.

verb (used with object)

to utter aloud in an oratorical manner: to declaim a speech.

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RELATED WORDS

recite, orate, decry, spout, rail, denounce, declare, spiel, rant, attack, mouth, inveigh, perorate, lecture, proclaim, harangue, speak, bloviate, soapbox

Nearby words

  1. decking,
  2. deckle,
  3. deckle edge,
  4. deckle-edged,
  5. decl.,
  6. declamation,
  7. declamatory,
  8. declamping phenomenon,
  9. declarant,
  10. declaration

Origin of declaim

1350–1400; Middle English declamen < Latin dēclāmāre, equivalent to dē- de- + clāmāre to cry, shout; see claim
Related formsde·claim·er, nounun·de·claimed, adjectiveun·de·claim·ing, adjective
Can be confuseddeclaim disclaim
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for declaim

British Dictionary definitions for declaim

declaim

verb

to make (a speech, statement, etc) loudly and in a rhetorical manner
to speak lines from (a play, poem, etc) with studied eloquence; recite
(intr foll by against) to protest (against) loudly and publicly
Derived Formsdeclaimer, noun

Word Origin for declaim

C14: from Latin dēclāmāre, from clāmāre to call out
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for declaim

declaim

v.

late 14c., from Middle French déclamer and directly from Latin declamare "to practice public speaking, to bluster," from de- intensive prefix + clamare "to cry, shout" (see claim (v.)). At first in English spelled declame, but altered under influence of claim. Related: Declaimed; declaiming.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper