perorate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to speak at length; make a long, usually grandiloquent speech.
-
to bring a speech to a close with a formal conclusion.
verb
-
to speak at length, esp in a formal manner
-
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
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
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
And church and state pause in this made vortex of chaos to prate of the ills of pugilism; to legislate and perorate anent bloodless boxing bouts; to prosecute a brace of harmless pugs.
From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 12 by Brann, William Cowper
Rapture proclaim to the grove, to the echoing cliffs perorate it?
From Erotica Romana by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
He perorated: Recent events in Spanish Morocco were far from reassuring for the Spaniards.
From Time Magazine Archive
"That's the man for my money," he perorated.
From Stingaree by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)
Suppressing the receptions which annoyed her, she gave none but men's dinners, where she perorated and paraded, and where, being the only woman present, she had no rivals to fear.
From Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Imbert de Saint-Amand, Arthur Léon, baron
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
Aggressions were made and repelled, patriots perorated and fought, diplomatists finessed with a zeal worthy of the world's most restless, if not its wisest, age.
From Thomas Carlyle by Nichol, John
And as there was no one less impatient under sentiment or poetry than madame, her feet began to agitate themselves as if Jules were perorating some of his culinary inanities before her.
From Balcony Stories by King, Grace E.
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
Thus at Caen, in the early July days, there is a drumming and parading, a perorating and consulting: Staff and Army; Council; Club of Carabots, Anti-Jacobin friends of Freedom, to denounce atrocious Marat.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 14 by Various
"Is it hares?" cried the Dublin tourist, perorating after a flight or two into the subject of poachers; "what d'ye think would happen a hare in Donegal?"
From All on the Irish Shore Irish Sketches by Somerville, E. Oe. (Edith Oenone)
And in the corner of the paper a thumb-nail sketch of himself, perorating, with a garland of capital I's round his neck.
From The Marriage of William Ashe by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
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.
