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

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

King’s “I Have a Dream” speech exemplified his prowess as an orator.

From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026

Therein lies a dilemma, because Franco was not an especially compelling orator or a magnetic, mercurial personality after the fashion of Hitler, Mussolini and, you know, others we could name.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2025

She picks up a folder, looks at it, and like an orator who decides to improv instead of using her notes, tosses the folder back onto her desk and asks, “Jade, what do you want?”

From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson

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

By the 4th century BCE, Athenian orators even quoted lines from the tragedians in court, knowing that jurors “liked quotations from tragedy,” in one scholar’s words.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 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

One book described how orators in ancient Rome would use “loci,” or reference points, to remember long passages.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2023

As for the park itself, it was an American version of a Middle Eastern bazaar, with folk singers, storytellers, beggars, political dissidents, soapbox orators, and even the occasional snake charmer.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• lecturer
• preacher
• public speaker