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

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

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

“It takes people who are wealthy in New York to maintain the museums, maintain the hospitals,” John Catsimatidis, a billionaire real estate and supermarket tycoon, fulminated on Fox News.

From Los Angeles Times

For two years, the state quietly investigated the matter while Villanueva fulminated about it at seemingly every opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times

“They are coming, they are coming, they are coming!” he fulminates in a clip the parents’ legal team plays for him during his 2019 deposition, at which he seems unmoved.

From Salon

The unintended effect, however, is of cramped twin biographies, when what we’re here for is a drawn-out colloquy in a tight space: Lewis’ gentle prodding of a rationalist’s edges versus Freud’s fulminating about God’s existence.

From Los Angeles Times