hate speech

American  

[heyt speech] / ˈheɪt ˌspitʃ /

noun

1. speech, writing, or nonverbal communication that attacks, threatens, or insults a person or group on the basis of national origin, ethnicity, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

   The racist graffiti was condemned as hate speech.

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hate speech British  

noun

1. speech disparaging a racial, sexual, or ethnic group or a member of such a group

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Etymology

Origin of hate speech

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

The tool "will make it possible to systematically measure the presence, evolution and reach of hate speech on digital platforms" with "recognised academic criteria", Sanchez told a Madrid forum dedicated to the topic.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

This time the divisions were sown by hate speech reforms introduced by the centre-left Labor government after the Bondi Beach attack.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

Laurent Buanec, France director of X, pushed back against the investigation in January 2025, saying X had "strict, clear and public rules", which protected the platform from hate speech and disinformation.

From Barron's • Feb. 3, 2026

Denver Quarterly evidently bars material that lays bare social evils, since “we do not tolerate submissions that contain hate speech, bigotry, discrimination, or racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist language or violence of any kind.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

“I’ll be pressuring them to have some kind of schoolwide discussion on diversity and the dangers of hate speech like this.”

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh