perorate
Americanverb (used without object)
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to speak at length; make a long, usually grandiloquent speech.
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to bring a speech to a close with a formal conclusion.
verb
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to speak at length, esp in a formal manner
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to conclude a speech or sum up, esp with a formal recapitulation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perorate
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin perōrātus, past participle of perōrāre; see origin at per-, orate
Explanation
To perorate is to give a long, pompous speech. If you were expecting your teacher's remarks at the beginning of class to be a quick announcement, your heart will sink when he begins to perorate. There are two ways to use this somewhat old-fashioned word. The first is as a near-synonym of "orate," although to perorate is to give an even more flowery, pretentious speech than a mere oration. If you perorate when it's your turn to comment at a town meeting, it's unlikely you'll be taken seriously. An older meaning of perorate is to end a long speech with a summary of your main points.
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:
“I’ll just look into my soft drink and listen to someone else perorate about me,” Sting said.
From Washington Post
But here he'll pose and perorate, A Brutus vain and voluble.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, February 8, 1890 by Various
He hears Burke perorate, and Johnson dogmatise, and Scott tell his border tales, and Wordsworth muse on the hillside, without the leave of any man, or the payment of any toll.
From English Prose A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice by Roe, Frederick William
So little was he supposed to have spoken seriously that another, of whose ceasing to perorate there is no prospect, characterized his criticism in language so strong that it cannot well be repeated.
From Lost Leaders by Ridge, W. Pett (William Pett)
In vain does Lafayette fret, indignant; and perorate and strive: Patriots in the passion of terror, bellow round the Royal Carriage; it is one bellowing sea of Patriot terror run frantic.
From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas
He perorated: Recent events in Spanish Morocco were far from reassuring for the Spaniards.
From Time Magazine Archive
A third, perorated a long and beautifully written review, by the bold and startling announcement—"This writer is unquestionably a highly respectable youth."
From Pierre; or The Ambiguities by Melville, Herman
When Frederica perorated, and this remark partook of the nature of peroration, it was as though she took a header into deep water.
From Mount Music by Ross, Martin
He still perorated, still posed like a shop-walker, still behaved like a puppet, with its pulling strings in plainest evidence.
From In the Mist of the Mountains by Macfarlane, J.
Such animosity as was shown against the priesthood emanated from some of the public clubs where the future Communards perorated.
From My Days of Adventure The Fall of France, 1870-71 by Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred
And we left him perorating on the steps of the hotel.
From Appearances Being Notes of Travel by Dickinson, G. Lowes (Goldsworthy Lowes)
Monsieur Homais came out of his shop, and Mere Lefrangois, in the midst of the crowd, seemed to be perorating.
From Madame Bovary by Aveling, Eleanor Marx
He had listened to Horne Tooke perorating "hanging matters" at the Corresponding Society; he had seen the "electric ruby" circulating at its dinners; he had witnessed the collapse of Thomas Hardy's painstaking and methodical organisation.
From Shelley, Godwin and Their Circle by Brailsford, Henry Noel
I had a vague impression of listening to gigantic marionettes, perorating through a trumpet, with the emphasis of Spaniards.
From Amiel's Journal by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
"And what, I ask you," I said perorating, "what on the face of the earth are we to do now?"
From All on the Irish Shore Irish Sketches by Somerville, E. Oe. (Edith Oenone)
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.
