fulminate

American  

[fuhl-muh-neyt] / ˈfʌl məˌneɪt /

verb (used without object)

fulminated, fulminating

1. to explode with a loud noise; detonate.

2. to issue denunciations or the like (usually followed byagainst ).

   The minister fulminated against legalized vice.

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verb (used with object)

fulminated, fulminating

1. to cause to explode.

2. to issue or pronounce with vehement denunciation, condemnation, or the like.

noun

1. one of a group of unstable, explosive compounds derived from fulminic acid, especially the mercury salt of fulminic acid, which is a powerful detonating agent.

fulminate British  

/ ˈfʌlmɪˌneɪt, ˈfʊl- /

verb

1. to make criticisms or denunciations; rail

2. to explode with noise and violence

3. archaic (intr) to thunder and lighten

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noun

1. any salt or ester of fulminic acid, esp the mercury salt, which is used as a detonator

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unfulminating
  adjective
• fulminatory
  adjective
• nonfulminating
  adjective
• fulminator
  noun
• fulmination
  noun
• unfulminated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of fulminate

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English fulminaten < Latin fulminātus, past participle of fulmināre “to hurl thunderbolts, thunder,” equivalent to fulmin-, stem of fulmen “thunderbolt, lightning” + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

Watch a bomb fulminate or explode and hope you're under safe cover. Have your parents fulminate or blow up at you for coming home past curfew and hope you're not grounded for too long. The word fulminate is made up of the Latin root fulmen meaning "lightning flash." Look up at the sky during a violent thunderstorm and chances are you'll catch thunder and lightning fulminate or explode loudly and violently overhead. But you needn't look to the sky alone for this kind of intensity. If you find yourself in a room with passionate Republicans and Democrats debating, you might see them fulminate or severely rail against each other's beliefs.

Example Sentences

Mr. Lanthimos isn’t the type to thunder and fulminate and declare his themes, and the film doesn’t really align with any particular political outlook.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

Despite this, Burger showed mercy to Hammond and gracefully accepted his apology, though he continued to fulminate about Beckwith and the Time story.

From Washington Post • May 2, 2022

They fulminate in caustic tirades at the condemned, whose sentence is never in doubt and whose guilt is never in question.

From Salon • Oct. 13, 2021

Hill says that watching Trump fulminate made her feel like Alice in Wonderland watching the Queen of Hearts, with her constant shouts of “Off with their heads!”

From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2021

He carefully half-cocked his piece, took off the cap, rubbed the nipple to remove any stray fragments of fulminate, and then let the hammer down on a piece of wadding taken from his cap.

From Si Klegg, Book 4 (of 6) Experiences Of Si And Shorty On The Great Tullahoma Campaign by McElroy, John