imprecation
Americannoun
-
the act of imprecating
-
a malediction; curse
Etymology
Origin of imprecation
1575–85; < Latin imprecātiōn- (stem of imprecātiō ), equivalent to imprecāt ( us ) ( imprecate ) + -iōn- -ion
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.
One of them is the journalistic imprecation tediously if correctly invoked by New Yorker editor David Remnick in a recent column: Don’t get ahead of the reporting.
From Salon • Jul. 15, 2017
As the second half went on, the cries gave way to groans of dissatisfaction, and, eventually, shrieks of imprecation.
From The Guardian • Nov. 24, 2012
Sendak’s celebrated book Where the Wild Things Are takes its inspiration from childish disobedience and the imprecation that Yiddish-speaking parents hurled at obstreperous kids: wilde chaia or “wild pig.”
From Time • May 9, 2012
It takes a single imprecation to launch the curse of Greer, and once it is launched nothing will stop it.
From The Guardian • Oct. 3, 2010
The tenderness of his voice when he came to the eleventh and twelfth lines, and the measured outburst of passionate imprecation, come back almost audibly.
From Tennyson and His Friends by Various
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.
