speech act

Save This Word!

noun Philosophy, Linguistics.

any of the acts that may be performed by a speaker in making an utterance, as stating, asking, requesting, advising, warning, or persuading, considered in terms of the content of the message, the intention of the speaker, and the effect on the listener.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!

Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between "it’s" and "its" in this crafty quiz!

Question 1 of 8

On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

it's

its

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby speech act

speculum forceps, speculum metal, sped, Spee, speech, speech act, speech bulb, speech center, speech clinic, speech community, speech correction

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use speech act in a sentence

Those are troubling numbers, for unfettered speech is not incidental to a flourishing society.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There is no such thing as speech so hateful or offensive it somehow “justifies” or “legitimizes” the use of violence.
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Alessandro turned a grateful look on Ramona as he translated this speech, so in unison with Indian modes of thought and feeling.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
And so this is why the clever performer cannot reproduce the effect of a speech of Demosthenes or Daniel Webster.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
He caught himself in the act of listening to you too credulously—and that seemed to him unmanly and dishonorable.
Confidence|Henry James
He was aware that his act by this time, had helped nobody, had made no one happy or satisfied—not even himself.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
He had, however, recovered sufficiently to enable him to act with promptitude and discretion.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for speech act

speech act

noun philosophy

an utterance that constitutes some act in addition to the mere act of uttering

an act or type of act capable of being so performed