imprecate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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(intr) to swear, curse, or blaspheme
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(tr) to invoke or bring down (evil, a curse, etc)
to imprecate disaster on the ship
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(tr) to put a curse on
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of imprecate
First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin imprecātus, past participle of imprecārī “to invoke, pray to or for,” equivalent to im- “in” + prec- “pray” + -ātus past participle suffix; see origin at im- 1, pray, -ate 1
Explanation
To imprecate is to deliver a curse or verbally attack someone. You might imprecate a curse against a rival sports team, or even against a sibling. The verb imprecate is an old-fashioned way to say "curse," meaning either to wish harm or evil on someone, or simply to swear at them. If you're mad enough to say, "Curse you!" or "May your bed be full of fleas!" when your brother annoys you, you imprecate him. The Latin root is imprecationem, "an invoking of evil," from imprecari, "invoke or call down upon."
Vocabulary lists containing imprecate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Daughter, to thy father go back with good cheer; nor imprecate swift death upon us, nor let choler shake thy bosom.
From The Danish History, Books I-IX by Saxo, Grammaticus
He ceased to imprecate only when, by repetition, his oaths became too inexpressive to be worth while.
From The Eagle's Heart by Garland, Hamlin
To be a thorough expert in dog-training a man must be able to imprecate freely and with considerable variety in at least three different languages.
From The Great Lone Land A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America by Butler, William Francis
Bowing my head to think—to pray—to imprecate, I lost all sense of time and place.
From Heralds of Empire Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)
He never made man after his own image to imprecate the wrath of heaven by blackening earth with his foul deeds.
From Our World, Or, the Slaveholder's Daughter by Adams, F. Colburn (Francis Colburn)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
