invective

[in-vek-tiv]

noun

vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach.

a railing accusation; vituperation.

an insulting or abusive word or expression.

adjective

vituperative; denunciatory; censoriously abusive.

Origin of invective

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin invectīvus abusive, equivalent to Latin invect(us) (past participle of invehī to attack with words, inveigh) + -īvus -ive

Related formsin·vec·tive·ly, adverbin·vec·tive·ness, nounun·in·vec·tive, adjective

Synonyms for invective

1. contumely, scorn.

Synonym study

1. See abuse.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for invectives

tirade, denunciation, epithet, diatribe, obloquy, blame, scurrility, condemnation, philippic, castigation, blasphemy, sarcasm, revilement, censure, contumely, accusation, billingsgate, jeremiad, reproach, tongue-lashing

Examples from the Web for invectives

Contemporary Examples of invectives

And self-defeating Arab Americans will continue to regard "normalization" not as a goal, but as the most damning of invectives.
Arab Americans Need Political Normalization
Hussein Ibish
November 12, 2012

Historical Examples of invectives

As always his mockery procured him a new flood of invectives.
Erasmus and the Age of Reformation
Johan Huizinga
His invectives ate in like corrosives, his metaphors bit like adders.
The Thunders of Silence
Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb
His invectives and vituperations bite and flay like steel whips.
Suspended Judgments
John Cowper Powys
And he ventures to express indignation at Loofs' "invectives."
At the Deathbed of Darwinism
Eberhard Dennert
Rilth looked at him with a snarl, uttered a stream of invectives.
The Butterfly Kiss
Arthur Dekker Savage

British Dictionary definitions for invectives

invective

noun

vehement accusation or denunciation, esp of a bitterly abusive or sarcastic kind

adjective

characterized by or using abusive language, bitter sarcasm, etc

Derived Formsinvectively, adverbinvectiveness, noun

Word Origin for invective

C15: from Late Latin invectīvus reproachful, scolding, from Latin invectus carried in; see inveigh

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for invectives

invective

1520s, from Medieval Latin invectiva "abusive speech," from Late Latin invectivus "abusive," from Latin invectus, past participle of invehi "to attack with words" (see inveigh). For nuances of usage, see humor. The earlier noun form was inveccion (mid-15c.).