diatribe

American  

[dahy-uh-trahyb] / ˈdaɪ əˌtraɪb /

noun

1. a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism.

   repeated diatribes against the senator.

   Synonyms:

   harangue, tirade

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diatribe British  

/ ˈdaɪəˌtraɪb /

noun

1. a bitter or violent criticism or attack; denunciation

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Etymology

Origin of diatribe

1575–85; < Latin diatriba < Greek diatribḗ pastime, study, discourse, derivative of diatríbein to rub away ( dia- dia- + tríbein to rub)

Example Sentences

Then, he satirizes conservatives’ discomfort with his Blackness by sitting silently as Martin Short, playing a nervous young Republican delivering a hackneyed diatribe, shudders in his presence before scampering offstage to fall apart.

From Salon

An Israeli bobsleigher said on Tuesday he gave no "credence whatsoever" to the "diatribe" from a Swiss television commentator who had questioned the legitimacy of him competing at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

From Barron's

His first brush with the law dated back to 1974 when he released his famous album "Zombie", generally considered by the military authorities in power as a diatribe levelled at them.

From Barron's

Staying close to her family in the Mediterranean city of Tartus during the Covid-19 pandemic, she sent him a voice message, playing back a piece of his diatribe that had been secretly recorded.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Green pins his diatribe on a Dublin City Council proposal to rename Herzog Park.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• denunciation
• invective
• jeremiad
• screed
• tirade