diatribe

American  

[dahy-uh-trahyb] / ˈdaɪ əˌtraɪb /

noun

• diatribes
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• diatribes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of diatribe

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

Explanation

It's pretty overwhelming when you ask your friend a seemingly innocuous question, like "Do you like hot dogs?" and she unleashes a diatribe about the evils of eating meat. A diatribe is an angry, critical speech. This noun has its roots in the Greek diatribē, "pastime or lecture," from diatrībein, "to waste time or wear away," combining dia-, "thoroughly," and trībein, "to rub." So the origin of the word diatribe is connected to both serious study and the spending or wasting of time. With most diatribes, the speaker thinks he's well informed and knows something the listener doesn't, while to most listeners the diatribe is so angry and unhinged that it's just a waste of time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diatribe diatribes

I remember thinking her diatribe about the injustice of Hester Prynne’s shunning would segue into the cruelties Charles faced with the goal of inspiring someone to defy the blacklist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Smith said his comments were directed at the Pelicans’ social media team, although he did not hesitate to point out the organization’s shortcomings during his diatribe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026

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 ● Feb. 22, 2026

Altman was about to launch into a diatribe about the commercials that Anthropic, the maker of ChatGPT competitor Claude, rolled out for the Super Bowl.

From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2026

Bobby’s diatribe about cheating by the Soviets was being discussed all over the world, and the chess hierarchy in Russia was incensed.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

During the war, he baffled international negotiators with rambling diatribes on Serbian history.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Kim, who worked on Bass’ 2022 campaign, took aim not just at Caruso but also billionaire Elon Musk, who has posted diatribes against the mayor on social media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2025

Others, such as Shawn Michaels, say there's not much difference between the two, and WWE executive Bruce Prichard says Mr McMahon's in-ring diatribes were similar to the ones he'd deliver in the board room.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2024

David Gottesman, known as Sandy, an investor and early acolyte of Warren Buffett’s, was not a creature of Page Six or TV, of divorce settlements, $500 million yachts, Davos or social-media diatribes.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2024

Jacobs attended city council meetings, but only sporadically, which was a good thing, in C.P.’s view, since Jacobs’ diatribes left listeners with the impression that the man was unhinged.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• denunciation
• invective
• jeremiad
• screed
• tirade