orator

American  

[awr-uh-ter, or-] / ˈɔr ə tər, ˈɒr- /

noun

• orators
  plural

1. a person who delivers an oration; a public speaker, especially one of great eloquence.

   Demosthenes was one of the great orators of ancient Greece.

2. Law. a plaintiff in a case in a court of equity.

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orator British  

/ ˈɒrətə /

noun

1. a public speaker, esp one versed in rhetoric

2. a person given to lengthy or pompous speeches

3. obsolete the claimant in a cause of action in chancery

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• oratorship
  noun
• oratorlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• orators
  plural

Etymology

Origin of orator

1325–75; < Latin ōrātor speaker, suppliant, equivalent to ōrā ( re ) ( see oration) + -tor -tor; replacing Middle English oratour < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Explanation

A person giving a speech is called an orator, like the gifted orator who raised excellent points, making everyone in the audience want to join his revolution. The noun orator traces back to the Latin word orare, meaning to “speak before a court or assembly, plead.” Orator is really just a formal way of saying “speaker.” Technically, you can use it to describe anyone who is giving a speech, whether it’s a speaker at the United Nations or a classmate giving a short presentation. However, orator often implies that the speaker is particularly gifted.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orator orators

“Her Private Hell” is not merely glittering debris, as some have posited, nor is it style over substance; it’s a campfire story told by Thatcher’s unearthly orator, with just as much chilling impact.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Though the powerful 19th-century editor Horace Greeley did so, his former employee and future competitor, Henry J. Raymond, started off as a pro-Whig orator, writer and editor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Handsome and dynamic, an orator with a flair for memorable rhyme, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was the first Black candidate for president to attract a major following.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026

An effective orator, Khamenei joined the critics of the Shah of Iran: the monarch who was eventually overthrown by the Islamic revolution.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

The skilled orator is out not necessarily to knock down his opponent’s case tout court—but to misrepresent his opponent’s case in such a way as to make it easier to attack.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

While Mr. Perl-Rosenthal skillfully charts the public philosophy of the orators, the story feels somewhat incomplete without lingering on the man who effectively codified their dissent into a national creed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

I often return to the wisdom of Frederick Douglass, a formerly enslaved person and one of this country’s greatest thinkers and orators.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025

Luckily, he’s a once-in-a-generation political talent himself and one of the greatest orators in modern life.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2024

“It is here where he would begin his career as one of the most renowned orators of the 19th century.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024

Cicero and Quintilian, for instance, both regarded the Greek orators in general—and Demosthenes in particular—as unfunny.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Related Words

• lecturer
• preacher
• public speaker