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.
See Examples For:
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
"Swear!" he said: "imprecate a curse upon thyself if thou hast said anything untrue to save thy master."
From The Childhood of King Erik Menved An Historical Romance by Ingemann, Bernhard Severin
Then rose a roar of indignation against the Englishmen who had dared, under the hypocritical pretence of devotion, to imprecate curses on England.
From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
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, with unabashed forehead, imprecated on his own head all evil here and hereafter if he was guilty.
From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 2 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
In the station, men wept and imprecated in their despair; twice they tried to go to the rescue of the beleaguered men, but could not reach them.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 15 by Various
"Out upon a prayer who imprecated our parting!"
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Should we grant that Moses here imprecated on himself the greatest evil, a sense of other people's sins, and not a sense of his own sins, was the occasion.
From Sermons on Various Important Subjects by Lee, Andrew
In the station men wept and imprecated in their despair—twice they tried to go to the rescue of the beleaguered men, but could not reach them.
From Rose of Dutcher's Coolly by Garland, Hamlin
He throws effort into this record, whining, yammering, imprecating, imitating himself fabulously.
From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2011
Thousands of pleading, imprecating letters from cloak-and-suit men the country over forced him to change his mind.
From Time Magazine Archive
Her father, partaking of her grief, and imprecating the king of Egypt, did not doubt but this accident foretold some fatal event.
From Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume by
His peroration consisted of a luxuriant use of imprecating adjectives which stamped him as a person of original thought.
From The Shellback's Progress In the Nineteenth Century by Runciman, Walter
Bear witness, gods, you heard him bid me go; You, whom he mocked with imprecating vows Of promised faith!—I'll die; I will not bear it.
From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 05 by Scott, Walter, Sir
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.
