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Philippic

[fi-lip-ik]
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noun
  1. any of the orations delivered by Demosthenes, the Athenian orator, in the 4th century b.c., against Philip, king of Macedon.
  2. (lowercase) any speech or discourse of bitter denunciation.
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Origin of Philippic

1585–95; < Latin Philippicus < Greek Philippikós. See Philip, -ic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for philippic

Historical Examples

  • Such a philippic, he seemed to think, could never be out of season.

    Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

    Daniel Turner Holmes

  • He himself goes to Puteoli, and there he writes the second Philippic.

    The Life of Cicero

    Anthony Trollope

  • In the same evening he addresses the people in his fourth Philippic.

    The Life of Cicero

    Anthony Trollope

  • On the second of September he delivered his first Philippic in the Senate.

  • Cicero speaks of this event of his life in his twelfth Philippic, c. 11.

British Dictionary definitions for philippic

philippic

noun
  1. a bitter or impassioned speech of denunciation; invective
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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 philippic

n.

1590s, "bitter invective discourse," from Middle French philippique, from Latin (orationes) Philippicæ, translation of Greek Philippikoi (logoi), the speeches made in Athens by Demosthenes in 351-341 B.C.E. urging Greeks to unite and fight the rising power of Philip II of Macedon. The Latin phrase was used of the speeches made by Cicero against Marc Antony in 44 and 43 B.C.E.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper