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:
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
So they implore and imprecate, turning themselves into the ugliest and fiercest creatures they can, to frighten the evil spirits that they believe have come against them on the outspread wings of the storm.
From My Friends the Savages Notes and Observations of a Perak settler (Malay Peninsula) by Sanpietro, I. Stone
There was nothing for him to resent, nothing for him to imprecate but his own folly.
From The Alaskan by Curwood, James Oliver
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)
To imprecate evil on any living being seems to them unchristian, barbarous, a relic of dark ages and dark superstitions.
From Town and Country Sermons by Kingsley, Charles
What I said, spoke, begged, or imprecated, Heaven knows—not I. But they stirred not!
From Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 2 by Lever, Charles James
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
Then turning towards his younger brothers, he imprecated a curse upon them if they should follow the example of their elder brethren.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 269, August 18, 1827 by Various
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
He imprecated with a hoarse and furious voice a thousand curses upon those attendants who had permitted his captive to escape.
From Imogen A Pastoral Romance by Godwin, William
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
He was standing up, waving the loose ends of the reins about his head, and imprecating his horses into a gallop.
From Neighbours by Stead, Robert J. C.
As also Psal. cix. the Psalmist personates Christ, complaining of, and imprecating against his enemies; particularly Judas the traitor, verse 8.
From A Hind Let Loose Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ. With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods by Shields, Alexander
Her two hands shot up, dropped, shot up again, imprecating, cursing the world, the sky, the whole scheme of the universe, it seemed.
From A Spirit in Prison by Hichens, Robert Smythe
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.
