tirade
[tahy-reyd, tahy-reyd]
- a prolonged outburst of bitter, outspoken denunciation: a tirade against smoking.
- a long, vehement speech: a tirade in the Senate.
- a passage dealing with a single theme or idea, as in poetry: the stately tirades of Corneille.
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Origin of tirade
1795–1805; < French: literally, a stretch, (continuous) pulling < Italian tirata, noun use of feminine of tirato, past participle of tirare to draw, pull, fire (a shot), of obscure origin
Synonyms
See more synonyms for tirade on Thesaurus.com2. harangue, diatribe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tirade
Contemporary Examples
In December, he unleashed a tirade against them, saying they had “lost all credibility.”
Turned into a hashtag in a late-night Twitter tirade, “Do What U Want,” then, is not just a good pop song.
The Twitter tirade ended when Schwyzer said he was giving his laptop to his family and staying offline.
Porn Professor Hugo Schwyzer Comes Clean About His Twitter Meltdown and Life as a FraudRichard Abowitz
August 12, 2013
Bynes responded to the insinuations—that she was not well or not being her authentic self—with a tirade.
This is not a tirade against divorce or against the working mother.
Historical Examples
Of all that tirade, but one sentence had remained as if corroded into the mind of Carrier.
The Historical Nights' EntertainmentRafael Sabatini
I had listened in a sort of fascination to that tirade of venomous mockery.
The Strolling SaintRaphael Sabatini
The deputy followed me, indulging in a tirade of most abusive language.
The Prison Chaplaincy, And Its ExperiencesHosea Quinby
It was quite possible, for the other had not paused a moment in her tirade.
The Golden WomanRidgwell Cullum
Where's the quiet to come from, I ask you, after such a tirade of abuse as that?'
Lord KilgobbinCharles Lever
tirade
- a long angry speech or denunciation
- prosody rare a speech or passage dealing with a single theme
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Word Origin
C19: from French, literally: a pulling, from Italian tirata, from tirare to pull, of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tirade
n.
1801, "a 'volley of words,' " from French tirade "speech, volley, shot, continuation, drawing out" (16c.), from tirer "draw out, endure, suffer," or the French word is perhaps from cognate Italian tirata "a volley," from past participle of tirare "to draw." The whole Romanic word group is of uncertain origin; some think it is a shortening of the source of Old French martirer "endure martyrdom" (see martyr).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper